Nick Myers wants to get one thing straight.
He is thrilled his Ohio State men's lacrosse team is in the Final Four for the first time in program history. But his players shouldn't settle for that as the season's ceiling.
“We posed the question to them earlier in the week and just said, 'Listen — at the end of the day this is going to go down as the most successful, competitive season of Buckeye lacrosse. That's done. You've already checked that box,'” Myers said. “'Do you want to be remembered as the first Final Four team or do you want to be remembered as the first national championship team?'”
Myers took over the men's lacrosse program ahead of the 2008-09 school year after serving as an assistant for three seasons. Since then, the Buckeyes have made it to the NCAA quarterfinals twice. Ohio State lost by 10 to Cornell in 2013 and then fell by two goals to Denver two seasons ago.
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12:00 PM – SATURDAY, MAY. 27 GILLETTE STADIUM FOXBOROUGH, MA |
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The No. 3 Buckeyes finally scaled the proverbial Elite Eight mountain last weekend with a 16-11 defeat of Duke and turn their attention to Towson, a team they beat on the road in March that upset No. 2 Syracuse last weekend in the quarterfinals. While downing the same team twice in one season is challenging enough, refocusing on playing in the moment instead of the moment is most important to Myers.
And when the ball drops on Saturday at noon in Gillette Stadium, Myers believes his team will be ready.
“We understand that it's an opportunity here in front of us and we're going to attack it like we have every other game this year,” he said. “The quarterfinals was kind of the hump, if you will, that we needed to get over. We checked that box last week. So I think the guys are loose, they're focused, they understand the challenge that lies ahead.”
Towson Breakdown
As mentioned above, No. 11 Towson reached the Final Four with a 10-7 upset victory against No. 2 Syracuse. It is the first time the Tigers have moved past the quarterfinals in 16 years. Unranked to start the season, Towson is one of the hottest teams in the country and the winner of eight out of its last nine matches.
“I think we expect to be here,” Towson senior attackman Joe Seider said this week. “I’m sure there will be nerves just to be out in that atmosphere, but I think as soon as the whistle blows the first time, everyone will settle in as soon as they touch the ball.”
Seider is a pillar of Towson's balanced offensive attack, leading the Tigers with 32 goals. He is second on the team in points with 42 behind Ryan Drenner (55 points). Seider led the way with four goals and Drenner tallied four assists in the team's quarterfinal victory over Syracuse. The two are easily the most dangerous offensive weapons the Tigers deploy.
“I think we noticed that last weekend when they played Syracuse. They got some guys that can sling it,” Ohio State goalie Tom Carey said on Thursday.
Though seven players have at least 15 points this season, Towson doesn't score a ton overall and averages below 10 goals per game. The Tigers instead win with their defense, which is ranked third nationally at allowing just 7.4 goals a game.
“I think we expect solid defense,” senior midfielder JT Blubaugh said on Thursday. “They've got a really good core line of defensemen.”
The Tigers also have an excellent goalie in senior Matt Hoy, who head coach Shawn Nadelen made the starter in place of junior Josh Miller midway through the season. Hoy is 7-1 as a starter and allows under seven goals per game. He did not play against Ohio State in March when the Buckeyes traveled to Maryland and left with a 6-3 victory on a cold and blustery day on the east coast.
“Those first seven games when I was sitting on the bench, it made me go back to why I play lacrosse in the first place,” Hoy said this week. “Early on in the season, I was putting so much pressure on myself to make saves where now I feel a little looser in the net, a little more athletic, trying to put my own stamp on the game.”
Hoy's change in mindset helped Towson reel off five consecutive victories on its way to the CAA Tournament Championship, during which the Tigers ran through Drexel and UMass. Ranked No. 4 and No. 3 in the country at the time, both teams managed just four goals against Towson — well below their season averages.
Four- and three-point victories at Penn State and then against Syracuse in the tournament kept the Towson train rolling. One that Nadelen built to leave the station starting six years ago.
“Not just this team but the guys before them and the work ethic that's been instilled, the culture that's been instilled, understanding that you put the work in, you put the preparation in, you got the talent together in the locker room and if you put that together good things can happen,” he said. “This team is kind of reaping the benefits of that. But now we've gotta continue to push forward.”
Ohio State Breakdown
In a rugged Big Ten conference, Nick Myers and Ohio State are used to facing the top teams in the country. Five out of the six schools in the league — Maryland, Penn State, John Hopkins, Ohio State and Rutgers — find themselves among the top 20 in the latest NCAA rankings.
“We've been in big stages, we've been in big games, played a ranked opponent every week for 10, 12 straight weeks,” Myers said. “Having played every team left on the board, we feel right now like our biggest opponent is ourselves. We've felt that way from the beginning.”
Myers knew he had something special with his group before the season opener in January. With key seniors in tow and an influx of great talent like eventual Big Ten Freshman of the Year Tre Leclaire, Myers forced his guys to think big.
“[We] look back to the beginning of the year and our first team meeting in August. Coach Myers imploring to us how important it is to win the national championship,” Carey said. “He made us say it. We said it and we believed it and I think that's true today.”
With Carey in net, Ohio State has its chance. The Buckeyes allow 8.3 goals per contest, good for ninth in the country according to NCAA.com. Carey is 12-4 as a starter this year, sports a save percentage of 54.7 and helped shut down high-scoring Loyola (Maryland) in the tournament opener with 12 saves. Ohio State won that match 7-4.
“We trust our guys and we play with seven on the defensive end,” he said.
Offensively, Myers directs 11 players who have at least 10 points this season. Led by senior attackman Eric Fannell's team-high 63 points and Leclaire's 45 goals (eighth-most in the country) the Buckeyes have a bevy of shooters to test Hoy and Towson's stiff defense. Six Buckeyes were named to All-American squads earlier this week, led by senior defenseman Ben Randall. Randall became the first player in Ohio State history to be named first-team All-American.
After ranking fourth in the country at faceoff winning percentage, two-time Big Ten Specialist of the Year Jake Withers received second-team All-American honors. Leclaire and Carey made the third-team, while Fannell and freshman midfielder Ryan Terefenko earned honorable mention.
The Buckeyes are 15-4 and No. 3 in the country. Myers said multiple Ohio State coaches of other programs came and spoke to his team this year, like wrestling's Tom Ryan and Andy Teitelbaum from women's rowing. Both programs have won national championships in recent years and compete for them annually. Just like most all programs at Ohio State, a result of expectation.
“We understand as a Buckeye the responsibility that we have. These men made the decision to come to Ohio State to compete for a championship and be part of something bigger than them,” Myers said. “With 36 sports, Buckeye Nation, it's very humbling as far as our athletic department. You realize very quickly that everybody is competing for championships. It kind of raises the bar.”
And while there will be awe and amazement for everyone wearing the Scarlet and Gray on Saturday because it is the first time the program reached the big show, Myers insists it is what they have been planning for all along.
“There's no gray area. And these guys will tell you that. We have never wavered from that goal,” he said. “When we came into the season No. 22 with no preseason All-Americans for the first time in my tenure here. I'd be lying if I told you that wasn't something we took personally. The rankings are what they are, it's all about how you finish.”
How To Watch
An annual tradition, the NCAA men's lacrosse Final Four is set for broadcast on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app.
Ohio State and Towson lock horns in one semifinal at noon from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The second semifinal is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. between No. 1 Maryland and No. 5 Denver.
