Ohio State’s men’s lacrosse team will try to win their first Big Ten Tournament title this evening when they take on Maryland in the championship game.
Ohio State’s men’s lacrosse team earned its third appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game when they beat Rutgers 11-7 on Thursday afternoon in one of the tournament’s semifinals. The Buckeyes previously made the title game in 2015 and 2017. Now, Ohio State will take on the Maryland Terrapins, who handed the Buckeyes their only conference loss of the season when they won 13-8 in Columbus last month. Ohio State will be looking for its first win over the Terrapins since 2018.
Rutgers led 2-1 early in Thursday’s semifinal against Ohio State before the Buckeyes reeled off five unanswered goals, with four of them coming from Alex Marinier and Gannon Matthews. Marinier and Matthews each recorded a hat trick against the Scarlet Knights, with Matthews securing his three-goal game when he scored with just 32 seconds left in the game. The seven goals and 33 shots the Buckeyes allowed were season lows by a conference opponent against Ohio State this year.
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With his hat trick, Alex Marinier now has 44 goals on the season, which places him in the top 10 in program history for a season at Ohio State. Marinier is currently tied for eighth with Steve Lauver, Kyle Buchanan, and Logan Schuss. With two more goals, Marinier will tie Bill Haagenson for seventh-most in a single season in school history. The hat trick recorded by Matthews raised his season total to 17 goals, making him one of eight Ohio State players with at least 10 goals this year. Garrett Haas scored 24 goals in the season, which is the second-highest score on the team behind Marinier.
Now, Ohio State will be looking for some revenge after Maryland handed them just their second loss of the season, and only conference loss, when the Terrapins beat the Buckeyes 13-8 on April 12th. Ohio State held a 2-1 lead with 8:05 left in the first quarter before Maryland took control, heading into halftime with a 9-3 lead. The Terrapins extended the lead to 11-3 early in the third quarter before the Buckeyes added five goals during the rest of the game to make the final score look a little more respectable.
Most of the damage Maryland did in the first matchup was done by a quartet of Terrapins. Matthew Keegan and Bryce Ford each recorded hat tricks in Columbus, while Daniel Kelly and Eric Spanos netted two goals apiece. For Ohio State, Ed Shean and Dillon Magee scored half of the eight goals the Buckeyes were able to put past Maryland goalie Logan McNaney, who set the school’s career saves record with his 733rd stop in the victory. McNaney enters tonight’s game with an 11-2 record on the season.
To earn their spot in tonight’s title game, Maryland took down Penn State 10-8 on Thursday in Ann Arbor. Early on, it looked like the Terrapins would cruise into the championship game, as they held a 6-2 lead over the Nittany Lions before Penn State scored four unanswered goals. Matthew Keegan gave Maryland the lead with 13:06 left, followed by the Nittany Lions tying the score up just over five minutes later. The Terrapins took the lead for good when Daniel Kelly scored 42 seconds after Penn State tied the score at 7-7. Kelly and Keegan added some insurance goals to give Maryland a little breathing room late in the game.
Kelly was the star of the semifinal for Maryland, as he set a career-high with five goals, notching his 11th career hat trick. Keegan added three goals in the victory to record his 19th career hat trick. Both players have scored at least three goals in four games each this season. Kelly leads Maryland with 27 goals, while Keegan reached the 20-goal mark with his output on Thursday. Braden Erska and Eric Spanos also have scored at least 20 goals for Maryland in 2025.
The clash between the Buckeyes and Terrapins is shaping up to be a classic. Even though Maryland has dominated the series of late, Ohio State has all the pieces to challenge the Terrapins this year. While the winner of tonight’s contest will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the loser will certainly be given an at-large spot. Not only will the Buckeyes take home the Big Ten Tournament title for the first time in school history with a victory, but they will also deny Maryland its fifth Big Ten Tournament championship.
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network