Around the Oval: Men's Soccer Rolls, Volleyball Changes Course, Women's Soccer Suffers First Loss & More

By Jimmy Longo on September 11, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Ohio State Men's Soccer
via Ohio State Athletics
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Need a pick me up following Saturday night's disaster? Before and after Saturday, other Ohio State sports were in action. Here's a look at how they fared.

Men's Soccer Goes 2-0, Wins B1G Opener

The Ohio State men's soccer team is rolling to begin the 2017 campaign. Sporting a 2-0 record for the week of Sept. 3, the Buckeyes have completed three straight shutouts, outscoring their opponents 5-0, highlighted by a 2-0 win at home versus Wright State and an opening 1-0 win on the road at Northwestern to start Big Ten play.

Against Wright State last Monday night, OSU was guided by senior defender Niall Logue, freshman sensation Joshua Jackson-Ketchup and central Ohio native Abdi Mohammed.

The Irishman Logue scored his first career goal as a Buckeye off a rebound from 13 yards out in the 13th minute of the match. Mohammed was credited with an assist of the play. 

Mohammed's second assist of the night came on Jackson-Ketchup's goal, crossing a pass near the box where Jackson-Ketchup had a simple put-in. It was the third goal of the young freshman's career.

Buckeyes stymie Wildcats in B1G Opener

Friday night's win at Northwestern was quite the defensive battle for the Buckeyes, though they hold on. Ohio State got the early advantage from senior defender Hunter Robertson. 

Playing back on a corner kick, Robertson took an inbounding pass from Abdi Mohamed, dribbled the ball a few feet and then fired an absolute bomb from 25 yards out to the upper 90 of Northwestern's goal. The ball evaded three Wildcat defenders on its way to the back of the net.

Women's Soccer Splits headed into Big Ten Play

The women's soccer team finished up their non-conference slate this weekend, winning a double overtime thriller against No. 20 Notre Dame before dropping a 1-0 match to Saint Joseph's University.

Ohio State's win over the Fighting Irish came in the 105th minute, an own goal score credited to the Buckeyes while Notre Dame was trying to clear the ball from their side of the field.

Though after playing four matches in the last ten days, one could understand OSU running out of steam against a pesky St. Joe's team Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Hawks had a week off prior to coming into Sunday's match, and that showed throughout the contest. 

Though that wasn't something that coach Lori Walker-Hock was trying to make excuses for.

"I think we just showed a lack of maturity today (Sunday)," Walker-Hock said, "We were able to take care of business on Friday but we were not able to show up against a team that had a week of heading into today."

Regardless of the loss, OSU outshot the Hawks 9-3 in shots on goal. Though that didn't matter, as Paige Berman of St. Joe's capitalized on one of those three shots, giving her team the only advantage they would need in the 23rd minute.

OSU must recollect themselves quickly though, as they open Big Ten play Thursday at home against Illinois.

WVb: Buckeyes split home-and-home with Irish

Supposed to play in Conway, South Carolina in the Coastal Carolina Classic, Ohio State stayed home and way from Hurricane Irma. Instead, they picked up a home and home series over the weekend with Notre Dame. The teams split the two matches, with each home team claiming victory on their respective courts.

The Buckeyes claimed their win of the series first, as they defeated the Fighting Irish in straight sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-23) Friday night at St. John Arena.

Senior outside hitter Luisa Schirmer tallied 13 kills and 14 digs on the contest for the Buckeyes, while Taylor Hughes added 33 assists and another eight kills. Freshman Hannah Gruensfelder continued her hot streak at the start of her young career, chipping in with 14 digs as well.

Gruensfelder Digs Into Record Book

Lauren Gruensfelder built off the momentum of Friday night's contest in Columbus to have a record-setting performance Sunday in South Bend. 

Despite OSU losing in four (25-22, 21-25, 25-14, 25-17), the freshman libero set a program record for a four-set match, totaling 38 digs. 

OSU will host another invitational this coming weekend, as Dayton, Northern Illinois and Western Kentucky come to Columbus for the Buckeye Invitational. Matches will be played at St. John Arena and Capital University. 

No. 23 Field Hockey Goes 1-2

Despite going 1-2 on the week, the field hockey program is in the midst of something special under first-year coach Jarred Martin. They entered the NFHCA coaches' poll with a top-25 ranking for the first time in five years. 

The No. 23 Buckeyes started off the week by dropping a 2-1 decision to in-state foe Kent State, losing on a heartbreaker on a Golden Flash goal with 4:39 remaining in the game. Even after outshooting Kent St. 13-3 throughout the game, Golden Flash goals from Jamie Fries and Ines Delpach made all the difference. 

Buckeyes Rebound at Miami (OH)

The field hockey team rebounded against Miami (OH), coming from behind to get a 3-2 win on the road in Oxford. 

Ohio State got goals at 27:01, 33:48 and 54:28 as they were able to avenge the early deficit and take control of the match after halftime. Sitting at the time with a 3-1 record, it was the best start for the field hockey program since 2010.

OSU drops top-25 matchup with No. 19 Wake Forest

In their second game against a top-25 team this season, the Buckeyes couldn't muster enough offense to keep up with the Demon Deacons on Sunday, as Wake Forest dropped Ohio State to 3-2 with a 3-1 victory. 

The Buckeyes were dominated throughout the game, with their only goal coming from Esther Clotet Alsina in the 48th minute. That goal was only one of four OSU got on the day against the Wake defense and goalie Isla Bint.

OSU field hockey will open up Big Ten play Friday at Northwestern. 

Men's volleyball Gets bling

Fresh off of their repeat national title, the men's volleyball team showcased their bling, and as far as men's volleyball national championship rings go, its a rock. A beautiful, beautiful rock.

Ohio State wrestling aides NBC4's Harvey Drive

Though Ohio State wrestling doesn't start the regular season for a couple more months, they got involved in some preseason action prior to.

Not wrestling, but service. Coach Tom Ryan and members of the squad helped out at NBC4's drive event for Hurricane Harvey victims.

the week ahead

  • Women's Tennis: 9/11 @ The Ascension Project Womens Challenger 25K, Redding, CA
  • Men's Soccer: 9/12 v. Penn State, 6 p.m.; 9/17 @ Rutgers, 1 p.m.
  • Women's Soccer: 9/14 v. Illinois, 7 p.m.; 9/17 v. Northwestern, 1 p.m.
  • Women's Volleyball: 9/15 v. Western Kentucky, 12 p.m. and v. Northern Illinois, 7:30 p.m.; 9/16 v. Dayton, 3 p.m.
  • Field Hockey: 9/15 at Northwestern, 4:15 p.m.; 9/17 @ Ohio, 1 p.m.
  • Cross Country: 9/16 @ Commodore Classic, 9:00 a.m., Nashville, Tenn. 
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