Michigan and Ohio State at the end of the regular season with the Big Ten championship on the line? Bo and Woody would have been proud.
One of college football’s best rivalries is starting to become that way on the lacrosse field and the three yards and a cloud of dust mantra of Big Ten football would have aptly described Saturday’s game. Defense ruled the day until Ohio State rallied late with five goals in the final 5:23 of the game to beat Michigan 10-8 to win its first Big Ten regular season championship.
Neither team scored in the first 10 minutes of the game and the first half yielded just a combined five goals, but it was still riveting to watch. Ohio State’s Caleb Fyock – AKA as Big Tasty – saved the first four shots he saw, but Michigan’s Hunter Taylor was just as impressive. Taylor finished with 14 saves while Fyock ended with 12.
Ohio State defender Bobby Van Buren was his usual lockdown self, showcasing excellent footwork, while Michigan’s Pace Billings used his stickwork to help create four caused turnovers.
The slugfest appeared ready to turn in favor of the home team – much to the delight of the packed house of 2,835 – as Michigan scored five times in the third quarter and took an 8-5 lead on John Morgan’s second goal with 12 minutes to play.
Michigan worked the clock on its next few possessions, but Ohio State had an answer with Gannon Matthews ripping in back-to-back shots from the right wing to bring the Buckeyes within one.
Shane O’Leary then tied it up with 2:45 left on an unlikely goal as he was falling backwards before getting a high bouncer to go.
Shane. O'Leary. 😤
OSU 8, UM 8 // Q4 - 2:45 // #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/6MWLiYbrcQ— Ohio State Men's Lacrosse (@OhioStateMLAX) April 19, 2025
Ed Shean then played the hero for the Buckeyes as Garrett Haas made a nice move behind the cage and fed Shean in front of the goal. Shean went sidearm and used two Michigan defenders to screen Taylor’s vision on the go-ahead goal with 1:45 left. The Buckeyes sealed it when Matthews ran past a double-team from two poles to score an empty-netter.
Buckeyes back in front 🚨
Shean with his second of the day
OSU 9, UM 8 // Q4 - 1:50 // #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/ewSqxwK0U9— Ohio State Men's Lacrosse (@OhioStateMLAX) April 19, 2025
The victory gives Ohio State its first regular season Big Ten championship, a pretty surprising development for a team coming off of a 6-9 season that opened 2025 with a humbling 19-13 loss to Utah.
The Buckeyes, who had lost four straight to Michigan, will be coming back to Ann Arbor for the Big Ten tournament in two weeks.
Random Observations
C.J. Kirst is just so good and now he shares an NCAA record. Held scoreless for the first 22 minutes of Cornell’s showdown at Harvard, Kirst then ripped off three goals in just 41 seconds to help extend the Big Red’s lead. Leading by just one in the second half, Cornell scored eight straight goals to put Harvard away in a 20-12 victory. The last goal of the Cornell run was the 224th of Kirst’s career, tying him with recent Virginia graduate Payton Cormier for the NCAA Division I all-time record.
Towson’s 1-5 start to the season is long forgotten. The Tigers beat Fairfield 14-9 to wrap up the CAA regular season title behind four goals and two assists from Mikey Weisshaar. Patrick Stevens was there to report on Towson’s seventh straight victory.
Notre Dame’s offense was stagnant in the first half for the second game in a row, but once again the Irish proved they can be as explosive as anyone in the country. Chris Kavanagh took over the game this time, scoring three of his four goals in the third quarter after the Irish had trailed North Carolina 4-1 at the half. Notre Dame ended up winning 12-6.
Duke looked as comfortable as it has all season and jumped on Syracuse early in an 11-7 victory. Eric Malever scored five goals for the Blue Devils and Patrick Jameison made 13 saves, including some head-turning stops on the doorstep.
Penn State made Rutgers pay for its 10-man ride, scoring twice from beyond midfield in the second quarter of a 10-4 win over Friday night. Penn State goalie Jack Fracyon made 13 saves and scored one of the two long-distance goals for the Nittany Lions.
By the Numbers
10,123 • Crowd at Maryland’s SECU Stadium on Friday night to watch the Terps score the final three goals of the game to beat rival Johns Hopkins 11-8 in the 128th meeting between the two schools.
20 • Career-high saves for Johns Hopkins’ goalie Oren Gelinas in a valiant effort in the 11-8 loss to Maryland.
0 • Wins for Providence over Denver before upsetting the Pioneers 10-6 on Saturday afternoon. The Friars ended a streak of 15 straight losses to DU behind four goals from Jack Horrigan. Two of those were extra-man, giving Horrigan an NCAA-leading 11 EMO goals this season.
750 • Career faceoff wins for Army’s Will Coletti, setting a new Patriot League career record. Coletti, who won 19 of 25 in a 20-11 win over Bucknell, broke the record of 742 set by Lehigh’s Mike Sisselberger.
23 • Faceoff wins for Cornell’s Jack Cascadden (on 29 attempts) in Cornell’s 20-12 win at Harvard. Cascadden had a season-high 14 ground balls and scored his eighth goal of the season.
3 • Top 20 wins for Richmond this year after beating Massachusetts 14-5 on Saturday. It’s the first time the Spiders have beaten three-ranked teams in a season since 2017.
23 • School-record saves for High Point’s Zack Overend in the Panthers 11-9 upset victory over Saint Joseph’s. He broke Tim Troutner’s record of 22 set against Jacksonville in 2018.
3 • Goals scored by Villanova in a span of 41 seconds in the fourth quarter, part of Villanova’s fifth straight victory – a 14-13 win over Marquette.
23 • Career-high saves for Boston University’s Will Barnes in a 12-7 victory over Lehigh. Barnes previous best total was 22 in an upset win over Army earlier this year.
8 • Points for Loyola’s Matthew Minicus (5g, 3a) in the Greyhounds 16-11 win over Navy. Loyola has now won three straight league games and is tied with Navy for the final spot for the Patriot League Tournament.
20 • Saves for Dartmouth’s Lucas Morel in a 13-9 win over Brown. It was the first time Dartmouth beat Brown since 2007 and the Big Green’s eight wins is its best total since 2006.
3 • Assists for Virginia goalie Matt Nunes in the Cavaliers 13-8 victory over Lafayette.
44 • Points for Hobart (26g, 18a) in a 26-13 win over St. Bonaventure. The 44 points is the most for Hobart since scoring 47 in a 1990 game against Arizona’s club team and the 18 assists is the most since 1986 (23 vs. Geneseo State).
