COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio State goalie Caleb Fyock made a point-blank save in the final seconds to seal a 7-6 win for the Buckeyes over visiting Johns Hopkins at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium Saturday afternoon. The win bumps Ohio State's record to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, while the Blue Jays slip to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes held a two-goal lead with less than a minute remaining before the Blue Jays made things interesting. A
Chuck Rawson goal with 28.3 seconds on the fourth-quarter clock pulled Johns Hopkins within a goal and
Joe Hobot won the ensuing faceoff to give the Blue Jays one final chance. Johns Hopkins worked the ball to junior
Hunter Chauvette on the wing and he was able to duck inside a defender as he closed in on the cage, but his offering from in-tight was snared by Fyock to end the Blue Jays' final threat.
Ohio State had built a trio of two-goal leads, the last of which came after back-to-back goals from Jackson Walsh and Alex Marinier in the fourth quarter that turned a 5-5 tie into a 7-5 lead. That lead appeared to be safe as the clock dripped under to 60 seconds and was still intact until Rawson's goal set up the final flurry and Fyock's game-clinching save.
After trailing 5-3, Johns Hopkins had pulled even with goals from
Quintan Kilrain and
Erik Chick that bridged the third and fourth quarters. Kilrain scored in transition after he caused a Buckeye turnover late in the third quarter and Chick got to the cage after dodging from the wing with 11:40 remaining on the fourth-quarter clock.
Form there, three goals would decide things, two by the Buckeyes and the one for the Blue Jays, although Fyock and his counterpart,
Oran Gelinas, were spectacular in the fourth period as both registered five of their matching 14-save performances in the final 15 minutes.
Both defenses were dialed in from the start as neither team found the net for nearly 10 minutes. If was the Blue Jays who broke through first with 5:10 remaining in the first quarter as
Hunter Chauvette went low-to-high off a feed from
Brooks English to opening the scoring.
It took less than a minute, 53 seconds to be exact, for the Blue Jays to double their lead as Chauvette worked from behind the cage and snuck one past Ohio State goalie Caleb Fyock as he got topside on his defender.
The Blue Jay defense would hold the Buckeyes scoreless until the last minute of the first quarter, when Jackson Walsh capped a long Ohio State possession with a seven-yard bouncer from the wing. That would be the first of three straight the Buckeyes would score to end the half as Jack Struck went high-to-high from a tough angle early in the second quarter and Dillon Magee went low to the far post with just under three minutes remaining before halftime to account for a 3-2 Buckeye lead at the break.
Johns Hopkins Notes of Interest
• The 14 saves for Gelinas are tied for the third-highest total of his career.
• Chauvette led the Blue Jays with two goals and one assist while Rawson scored twice.
• Hobot was 11-of-17 with six ground balls and one caused turnover.
• The seven goals allowed mark the fifth time in 11 games that Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to nine goals or less this season.
Ohio State Notes of Interest
• Fyock's 14 saves included the five in the fourth quarter and six in the second.
• Walsh and Struck both scored twice for the Buckeyes, who also collected assists in six of their seven goals on the day.
• Ohio State held advantages in shots (34-31) and ground balls (28-21).
Up Next
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, April 18 when the Blue Jays close the regular season at home against Maryland. Faceoff against the Terps is set for 2 pm (ESPNU).
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