Big Ten Daily (May 4): Ohio State Claims First Big Ten Title In Program History

Ohio State lacrosse claimed its first Big Ten title and will now hit the NCAA Tournament along with two other teams. On the women's side, four programs will be in competition for the national championship.

Ohio State Buckeyes mascot Brutus. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The top-seeded Buckeyes jumped out to an early 5-0, first-quarter lead against Maryland in the men's lacrosse Big Ten title game and never looked back. Ohio State held on to defeat the Terps 14-10 and claim its first title in program history.

Per the official Big Ten website, Maryland grabbed momentum on the early face off but relinquished it soon after and never got it back.

Maryland won the initial faceoff, but Cullen Brown forced a turnover which led to a goal by Ohio State’s Matthew Gannon. The Buckeyes then scored four more before the Terrapins got on the board.

After two goals by Eric Spanos at 6:50 in the second quarter, Maryland tightened the gap at 8-5, but Griffin Turner scored his sixth goal of the season to close out the half and increase the Buckeyes’ lead to four.  
 
Ohio State secured its lead to open the second half with back-to-back goals. The Buckeyes then closed out the game by never letting Maryland get within three scores. The Buckeyes led all teams with five members on the Big Ten All-Tournament team. 

All-Tournament performer Garrett Haas led all scorers with three goals, and four additional Buckeyes added a pair of goals in a well-rounded effort. Goalie Caleb Fyock made countless crucial saves to stave off any potential comeback from the Terrapins to earn the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He finished with 19 saves on the night.   

Three Men's Teams And Four Women's Teams To Compete For Lacrosse National Title

After earning an auto-berth for winn the conference, Big Ten champs Ohio State will be joined by at-large qualifiers Maryland and Penn State for a chance at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

Per BigTen.org, the NCAA field includes 18 teams with an opening round play-in game taking place on Wednesday, May 7, followed by eight, first round contests occurring Saturday and Sunday, May 10-11, on campus sites. Quarterfinals games will take place at Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. and at James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. on May 17-18, with the semifinals and final slated for Gilette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. on May 24 and May 26. 

Despite not winning the conference title game, Maryland has the highest seed of the three teams at No. 2. Ohio State comes in as the four seed, while Penn State sits at No. 5. Because of that, Maryland does not know its opponent yet, while Ohio State and Penn State both do.

The Terps will play the winner of Robert Morris and Air Force, while Ohio State takes on two-time defending national champion and No. 1 overall seed Notre Dame. Penn State is slated to host Colgate.

On the women's side, it'll be Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Michigan, and Northwestern vying for a national title. Northwestern, Maryland, and Johns Hopkins were among the tournament’s top eight seeds, so they each will host both first and second round games.

Here's the breakdown of how each team will kick off the tournament:

Women's Lacrosse Breakdown | Big Ten

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