After strong starts to their seasons, Ohio State’s men’s and women’s lacrosse teams are limping to the finish line of the regular season.
With just a couple weeks left before conference tournaments begin, both Buckeye lacrosse squads are riding two-game losing streaks. The men’s team has two games left to play in the regular season, while the women’s team has three games left to play before the Big Ten Tournament.
The good news for both teams is even though they have been on the wrong side of the final
results in their last few games, their recent losses have come against ranked teams. The men’s lacrosse team’s game against Johns Hopkins today marks their seventh straight game against a ranked team.
Nick Myers’ squad has gone 3-3 in the previous six games. The last three losses by the women’s team have come against ranked opponents.
Following a lopsided loss to Penn State, the Buckeye men’s lacrosse team traveled to College Park last week to take on Maryland. The Terrapins jumped out to a 4-0 lead six minutes into the game before Jake Cohen scored the first Ohio State goal with 9:01 left in the first quarter.
Jackson Walsh added a goal a few minutes later, and at the end of the quarter Maryland held a 5-2 edge.
The Buckeyes would work their way back into the game in the second quarter with goals from Garrett Haas, Walsh, and Logan Soelberg to head into the halftime break down 6-5. The second half was a defensive slugfest, with the two teams combining for just three goals before the end of regulation.
Both Ohio State goals came from Alex Mariner, with the second tying the game 7-7 with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Maryland’s Riley Reese would net the game-winner for the Terrapins 2:40 into overtime.
Mariner’s second goal in the loss to Maryland was the 100th goal of his career, making him the 15th Ohio State player to reach the mark. With his two goals last Saturday, Mariner now has 22 goals on the season, which are the most on the team, one ahead of Charlie Haas.
Even though Mariner overtook him for the team’s goal lead, Haas still has a sizable edge when it comes to points, as his 38 points this season are 11 more than Mariner has recorded. Haas assisted on both of Mariner’s goals against the Terrapins.
Despite losing their last two contests, Ohio State should be a feared team in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament because of their defense. Through 11 games, the Buckeyes are allowing 7.09 goals per game, which is the lowest mark in the country.
Of their 11 opponents this season, 10 teams have been held to less than 10 goals by the Ohio State defense, with the only team reaching double figures being Penn State. Goaltender Caleb Fyock had a season-high 14 saves in the loss last week to Maryland, and is 7-3 with a 7.48 goals against average and .564 save percentage this season.
Now Ohio State will turn their attention to Johns Hopkins in the 20th meeting all-time between the two schools. The Buckeyes won last year’s meeting 14-10 in Baltimore. Recent games between the programs in Columbus have been tight, with the last four all being decided by two goals or less.
Ohio State has posted a 5-2 record when they have welcomed the Blue Jays to Columbus. After today’s game against Johns Hopkins, the Buckeyes will close out their regular season schedule on Friday at home against Michigan.
Much like the men’s lacrosse team, Ohio State’s women’s lacrosse team is also seeking to end a two-game losing streak on Saturday.
The Buckeyes are coming off an 18-9 loss to Penn State at home on Sunday. After Kate Tyack tied the score 1-1 less than two minutes into the game, the Nittany Lions took control of the contest with four unanswered goals over the next six minutes of the first quarter.
While Camry Callaghan, Kampbell Stone, and Brooke Vinson recorded goals before the quarter ended, Penn State still held a 6-4 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Penn State would score four more unanswered goals in the second quarter after Callaghan netted her second goal of the game with 11:56 left. Tyack also added her second goal of the first half with 10 second left before halftime, but the Nittany Lions would still go into the break leading 11-6.
Morale didn’t improve after halftime, as Penn State scored three unanswered goals to open the third quarter. Isabelle Osborn, Zoe Coleman, and Abby Boyle would record the final three goals for the Buckeyes before the final whistle was blown.
The Buckeye defense had no answer for the Penn State in the game. Kelly Mackinney finished the contest with seven goals, while Payton Wainman and Erika Ho each had hat tricks in the blowout victory. The loss dropped Jocelyn Torres’ record to 5-6 on the season. The Ohio State goaltender has a 10.76 goals against average and .404 save percentage in 2026.
Despite the lopsided loss, there were a few positive individual accomplishments to come out of the loss to Penn State. With her two goals in the first half, Camryn Callaghan now has recorded at least one point in 28 straight games, and has 232 career points.
Callaghan was honored after the game as part of the Senior Day festivities. Brooke Vinson now has scored a goal in five straight games, while Zoe Coleman’s goal moved her three points shy of 100 points for her career.
Next up for Ohio State will be USC, who is 7-8 on the season, and 0-6 in Big Ten play. The Trojans are undefeated against the Buckeyes all-time, winning all three previous meetings. Last year USC won 9-8 in Columbus in the first game between the programs as conference foes.
The last time Ohio State battled the Trojans in Los Angeles was in 2013 when USC won 18-10. Following Saturday’s game the Buckeyes finish up their regular season schedule with games against Kent State and Maryland at home next week.
