Ohio State proved they were more than just a flash in the pan, unknown, defeating the Cornell Big Red 15-7 in Ithaca Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. With sharp shooting on offense, and tough, smothering defense, OSU looks like they could be dangerous in May.
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ITHACA, NY – Ohio State goaltender Stefan Schroder went the length of the field to score the first goal of the game, and the Buckeyes never looked back, as OSU went on to defeat Cornell 15-7 in a men’s NCAA first round game on Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. With the victory, the Buckeyes improve to 11-5 overall and earn a return trip back to Ithaca next weekend to face Duke in the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday, May 18 on Schoellkopf Field.
Peet Poillon scored three goals, while Joel Delgarno, Kevin Buchanan and James Green each added two apiece for Ohio State. Schroder made nine saves and allowed five goals, before Brandon Freeman came on in relief and allowed two goals in the final 2:34 of the contest.
John Glynn led the Big Red with two goals and two assists, while winning 13-of-19 face offs and picking up nine ground balls. Ryan Hurley (two goals, one assist) and Max Seibald (two goals) were the only other multi-point scorers for the team. In goal, Jake Myers, Kyle Harer and Mat Martinez combined to stop seven shots for Cornell, with Harer making five saves and allowing three goals in the final 28:40.
Cornell held the edge in shots (37-29) and ground balls (31-27) and won 16-of-25 face-offs.
Schroder got the Buckeyes on the board when the senior goalie made a save and then drove the length of the field to score from just outside the crease. A man-down goal by Chris Friel put the visitors up, 2-0 early in the first quarter.
Cornell answered with a man-up goal at the 9:58 mark when Espey took the ball on the right side of the cage and fed Glynn up top, who ripped a shot just under the cross bar to make it a 2-1 game.
Dalgamo pushed the Buckeye lead to 4-1, scoring OSU’s third goal and setting up its fourth. He made it a 3-1 game when he slipped through the Big Red defense and beat Myers down low. Dalgamo set up the next goal when he threaded a perfect cross-crease pass to Jeff Ryan who scored on the back door.
Poillon sent the visitors into the intermission with a 5-1 lead after taking the ball from behind the net, rolling around the left side of the cage and beating Myers up high at the 2:33 mark.
The Big Red wasted no time scoring in the start of the second period as Seibald won the face-off, streaked up field and ripped a left handed shot into the upper right hand corner of the goal to make it a 5-2 game.
Three straight goals by Ricky Pages, James Green and Scott Lathrop made it an 8-2 game with 10:54 left to play in the second quarter, temporarily driving Myers from the contest.
The first two shots Martinez faced were rockets from Buchanan that found the back of the net, pushing the Buckeye lead to 10-2 and returning Myers to the game with just over five minutes left before half time.
Green concluded the scoring for the half when he pushed from left to right and beat Myers up high to send OSU into the intermission with an 11-2 lead.
Friel opened the scoring in the third quarter when he pushed past his man and beat Myers up high to make it a 12-2 game.
The Big Red forced a turnover on OSU’s next possession and Matt Moyer collected the ground ball and sprinted into the offensive end. Moyer found Hurley, who sent the ball into the lower right hand corner of the goal to end the scoring drought for the Big Red.
Harer, who entered the game at the 13:40 mark, made back-to-back saves in a one minutes span, giving the Big Red its first saves in over 27 minutes of action, but the shut out did not last as Poillon beat Harer up high to make it a 13-3 game at the 2:21 mark.
Once again, it was Hurley that ended the Cornell scoring drought as he cut across the mouth of the crease, received a pass from Chris Finn, and buried it in the back of the net to send the Big Red into the final intermission trailing, 13-4.
Poillon opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, but just one minute later Seibald took a pass from Glynn and ripped a shot from 15-yards out to score a man-up goal, making it a 14-5 game with 10:48 to play in the game.
Neither team managed to score for over eight minutes before Dalgamo converted on an empty net to push OSU’s lead back to double-digits.
Cornell managed back-to-back goals in the waning minutes of the game when George Calvert scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Glynn, before Glynn scored off a pass from Hurley to account for the 15-7 final.
The Big Red finishes the season with an 11-4 overall record.
