Around the Oval: Lacrosse and Tennis Keep On Rolling Through NCAA Tournament

By TJ Neer on May 22, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Ohio State men's lacrosse celebrates an NCAA Quarterfinals win over No. 6 Duke. 2017.
Ohio State Athletics.
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Three Ohio State programs are making a push for an NCAA Championship and kept their seasons alive with wins this week.

Men's Lacrosse

Taking on No. 6 Duke in the NCAA quarterfinals, Ohio State seemed to have its hands full. However, when you get five goals and two assists from senior Eric Fannell along with two-goal games from three other players, you've got the making of a win.

Throw in a 14-save day for senior goalie Tom Carey and the recipe is complete. The Buckeyes toppled the Blue Devils 16-11 to advance to the semifinals for the first time in program history.

In total, Buckeye seniors contributed 10 goals, four assists, 18 groundballs and 14 saves in the win. Freshman Tre Leclaire, who has seemingly had his way with most opponents, was held to just one goal on three shots.

The Scarlet and Gray join Maryland, Denver and Towson in the Final Four and will be taking on Towson for a chance at the finals. In the regular season, Ohio State beat Towson 6-3 in their second-lowest scoring game of the year. They also surrendered a season-low three goals to the Tigers.

Additionally, Ohio State beat both Denver and Maryland in the regular season. The Buckeyes routed Denver 16-7 in March and took down Maryland 12-11 in an overtime thriller toward the end of April. More recently, however, the Bucks suffered a loss to the Terrapins in the Big Ten tournament, 10-9.

Tennis

Both teams are seeded No. 3, played two matches and got two wins this week; but let's see how they fared in each game.

On the men's side, the team began with an instant classic against No. 14 Oklahoma. Having already beaten the Sooners twice this season, the teams were certainly familiar with each other.

The Buckeyes lost the doubles point, so they were coming from behind to secure the win. Strong performances from No. 2 junior Mikael Torpegaard, redshirt freshman Kyle Seelig and senior Herkko Pollanen pushed the Buckeyes to three points, but the Buckeyes dropped two other singles sets to bring the match to a 3-3 tie.

For the win, it was freshman JJ Wolf against Sooner senior Andrew Harris. Wolf and Harris went through a tightly contested match, and Wolf got the win for the Scarlet and Gray on a third-set tiebreak to send the Buckeyes to the quarterfinals against No. 6 TCU.

There, the Buckeyes faced another tough challenge, as TCU is led by No. 1 singles player Cameron Norrie.

The Bucks got the doubles point before Pollanen dispatched his opponent quickly to put the squad up 2-0, but the teams fought back and forth to a 3-3 tie. In the end, Di Feo overcame a 40-0 deficit to come back and win the final set and send the Buckeyes to the fourth semifinals appearance in program history.

While the men's squad won two instant classics, the women's team overwhelmed their opponents. Neither South Carolina Friday nor Texas Tech Sunday could keep up with the Buckeyes.

Friday, the team allowed only one point en route to routing the Gamecocks 4-1. The team kicked off the match by winning the doubles point and never looked back. Seniors Gabriella De Santis, Miho Kowase and Sandy Niehaus, as well as sophomore No. 1 Francesca Di Lorenzo all won their singles matchups to propel the Bucks to victory.

Sunday, the Bucks looked even better. Taking on No. 6 Texas Tech, the Buckeyes played nearly flawless and won the match 4-0 to go on to the semifinals for the first time in program history.

In this matchup, Di Lorenzo, De Santis and Niehaus all left their singles matches unfinished as Kowase, junior Anna Sanford and senior Ferny Angeles Paz all made quick work of their Red Raider opposition to secure the team victory.

Baseball/Softball

In the NCAA tournament, the softball team was ousted quickly as the Bucks suffered losses to USC Upstate and Longwood on back-to-back days to be eliminated from the Knoxville regional. The season comes to a conclusion with the Buckeyes finishing with a 35-18 record and as Big Ten runners-up.

The baseball team had a relatively successful week, as they were able to get two wins in four games, but lost their Big Ten series to Indiana to close out the regular season.

The team kicked off the week with an 11-8 win over Toledo Tuesday followed by a 7-4 win over the Hoosiers Thursday, but ultimately lost both games over the weekend to draw even on the week.

Other Events

Men's golf finished ninth in a field of 13 at the NCAA Stanford Regional. 

After two days, the women's golf team sits in fourth out of 24 at NCAA Championships. 

Upcoming

May 22

  • Men's Tennis vs. Virginia (NCAA Tournament Semifinals, 10 a.m.) - Watch it here
  • Women's Tennis vs. Stanford (NCAA Tournament Semifinals, 2 p.m.) - Watch it here
  • Women's Golf, NCAA Championships

May 23 & 24

  • Women's Golf, NCAA Championships 

May 25

  • Track & Field, NCAA East Preliminaries (Lexington, Kentucky)
  • Baseball, Big Ten Tournament (Bloomington, Indiana)

May 26

  • Men's Golf, NCAA Championships (Sugar Grove, Illinois)
  • Baseball, Big Ten Tournament (Bloomington, Indiana)
  • Women's Rowing, NCAA Championships (West Windsor, New Jersey)
  • Track & Field, NCAA East Preliminaries (Lexington, Kentucky)

May 27

  • Men's Lacrosse vs. Towson (NCAA Semifinals, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts)
  • Track & Field, NCAA East Preliminaries (Lexington, Kentucky)
  • Men's Golf, NCAA Championships (Sugar Grove, Illinois)
  • Women's Rowing, NCAA Championships (West Windsor, New Jersey)
  • Baseball, Big Ten Tournament (Bloomington, Indiana)

May 28

  • Women's Rowing, NCAA Championships (West Windsor, New Jersey)
  • Baseball, Big Ten Tournament (Bloomington, Indiana)
  • Men's Golf, NCAA Championships (Sugar Grove, Illinois)

 

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