Around the Oval: Men's Soccer Keeps Season Alive With Win Against Michigan State

Men's Soccer keeps their season alive

Having lost eight straight games and their backs against the wall, the Ohio State men's soccer team avenged the team that started the losing streak. The Buckeyes kept their postseason aspirations alive with a 2-1 win over Michigan State Sunday afternoon in East Lansing.

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Playing through an hour-long weather delay, Ohio State got goals from Michael Prosuk and Abdi Mohammed while riding a stellar performance in net from Parker Siegried on their way to the upset win. Ohio State came into the match as the sixth-seeded team in the tournament while the Spartans were the No. 8 team in the nation and the third seed overall.

The win for the Buckeyes propels them into the semifinals and snaps an 18-match home winning streak for Michigan State.

"The two goals helped determine our spirit," said head coach John Bluem.

"At halftime, we were determined to win the game. It was a fantastic defensive effort to prevent them from scoring that second goal. Our guys were doing it all to hold them."

For a team that has had polar opposites of a season, getting into the semifinals of the conference tournament seems like a lightyear's improvement from what the winless month of October had been to the Buckeyes.

"We went through a difficult stretch of games in October and couldn't find a way to win," Bluem continued.

"Credit to our guys, they never stopped believing. They got to go the Final Four in one of the best conferences in the country."

Ohio State will play Friday, Nov. 10 in Westfield, IN against the winner of Indiana and Penn State.

Ohio State swimming collects bevy of wins

The swimming team's are off to a hot start as the second meets of the season took place Friday night at McCorkle Aquatic Auditorium.

The men defeated Denison by a score of 200-90 while the women defeated Denison as well 201-92 and took down Akron 184-109.

The 17th-ranked men's swimmers won all 16 events in the swimming and diving competitions. Stephen Romanik won both golds in the one meter and three meter dive and Nick Hogsed took home the individual medley and the 200 freestyle.

On the women's side, the victories over Denison and Akron were highlighted by the the women winning both relay events and the trio of Molly Kowal, Meg Bailey and Genevieve Angerame all winning twice.

Kowall won the distance races for the Buckeyes, taking home gold in both the 500 meter and 1000 meter freestyle. Angerame took home both diving events, scoring a three-meter best score on the year with 313.85.

Ohio State will next host the annual Ohio State Invitational Nov. 17-19.

Volleyball splits against pair of Top-10 foes

The women's volleyball team kicked off the last month of the regular season with a road split against two top ten opponents. They won Friday night in five games at No. 8 Wisconsin before losing in three the next night at No. 5 Minnesota.

The Buckeyes had to come from far behind against the Badgers in the start to the weekend. They surrendered the first two games to the Badgers 14-25, 16-25 before the comeback trail began.

Ohio State got set three back 25-2 thanks to six kills in the set by Ashley Wenz and a .450 swing percentage.

They narrowly won the next set in a back-and-forth affair, at one point leading 18-14 to make the chance of a comeback for Wisconsin increasingly hard. The Badgers would get it to 24-23 before senior Luisa Schirmer ended the pesky Badgers run with a kill.

In the deciding set, the Buckeyes lost the lead, though never trailed. The score was 11-9 and then all knotted up at 13-13. On the ensuing play following the score being tied, it was Wenz who came through big for the Buckeyes, knocking down a kill and teaming up with Lauren Witte for the match-winning block.

Buckeyes Can't Capitalize against the Gophers

After an emotional win against the Badgers Friday night, Ohio State ran into a buzz saw that is No. 5 Minnesota Saturday night.

They played the Golden Gophers close, losing 25-22, 25-22 and 25-19, but they failed to capitalize on leads throughout sets and fell in holes they were unable to crawl out of.

Schirmer produced her 14th match of the season at which she had double-digit kills, leading the way with 13 for the Buckeyes. Ayanna Swan also contributed 10 in the losing effort. 

Ohio State next plays in New Jersey Wednesday, Nov. 8 for a midweek contest against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. 

WSOC exits B1G tournament in semis

After winning the Big Ten regular season title, No. 9 Ohio State was denied the chance at a tournament title, as they lost in a double overtime heartbreaker to Penn State.

The teams had played to a scoreless tie throughout regulation and the first overtime period, even getting down under the final minute in the second overtime, when Nittany Lion attacker Laura Freigang finished a shot inside the left post to end the game and the Buckeyes' hopes for a shot at the Big Ten title.

"I think we need to take responsibility for our slow start. That's what we have control over," said head coach Lori Walker-Hock. "It was not our best game but it was positive for our defense to get that experience and our players had to work really hard."

Ohio State is essentially a lock for the NCAA Tournament, with selections coming out Monday afternoon. 

"The rest is going to big for us so we'll regroup and see where we land on Monday." said Walker-Hock.

Other scores and news

• Men's hockey was swept in a weekend series with Notre Dame
• Wisconsin flexed its might against Ohio State in women's hockey
• Wrestling began their season at the Princeton Open
• Ohio State women's basketball put up 135 points on a Div. II team
• Ohio State fencing finished the Elite Individual Duals 14-2.