The No. 18 Ohio State field hockey team is off to a hot start in the new season. They are 6-1 with their only loss coming to No. 5 Louisville in a close 2-1 contest. In that game, the Buckeyes outshot them 15-3 and had the advantage in penalty corners 10-0, playing a clean game. The Cardinals were efficient, though, connecting on two of their three shots.
Senior forward Makenna Webster has led the way so far with 20 points on the season coming from eight goals and four assists, finding success in an aggressive approach with 25 shots taken. She has already scored four goals that have ended up being the game-winning score for the Buckeyes this season.
Freshman forward Brenna Bough, younger sister of graduate midfielder Leanne Bough, has quickly made an impact in the new season with 10 points of her own coming from four goals and two assists.
Senior goalkeeper Abby Danson has started in all seven games and has a save percentage of 75.9%, boasting two shutouts early on with a 6-0 win Sunday over Stanford and a 5-0 win over UC Davis on Sept. 4.
Big Ten play begins Friday when No. 8 Michigan (4-2) comes to Buckeye Varsity Field in Columbus. The Wolverines have wins over two ranked opponents already this year.
Women’s Soccer Wins Third Straight
After winning their opening game, the women’s soccer team would lose two games and tie one. Since then, they have taken down three straight opponents starting with a blowout 6-0 win over Oakland Aug. 31. The intrastate rival Ohio Bobcats were next, the Buckeyes winning 4-1, finally moving on to a 2-0 win over Auburn on Sunday.
Junior forward Kailyn Dudukovich has been the star of the show during the win streak with four goals and three assists over that stretch, giving her 18 points with seven goals and four assists over seven games.
Sophomore Molly Pritchard has taken most of the time in goal for OSU, allowing 11 goals and saving 22 for a 66.7 save percentage. She has a 4-2-1 record, which is what the team carries as well.
Men’s Soccer Picks Up First Win Of Season
The Buckeyes second loss of the season didn’t come until Oct. 30 against Wisconsin last season. In 2023, it was Sept. 1 in their third match, falling 1-0 to No. 23 Seton Hall in the IU Classic in Bloomington, Ind.
After their 0-2-2 start, OSU was back in Indiana against Butler Sept. 9, this time leaving with a 1-0 win with the only goal coming from senior midfielder Laurence Wootton. It was his first goal this season.
The lack of success hasn’t been due to a lack of chances. The Buckeyes have taken 76 shots in their five matches – 29 on goal with only four of those finding the back of the net – to their opponents 35 shots, only 15 of which have been on goal, but five have scored.
Keagan McLaughlin, their full-time goalkeeper in 2022 with a 77.9 save percentage, graduated and now the Scarlet and Gray have been splitting time between redshirt junior Peter Van Euwen and redshirt sophomore Max Trejo in net who have combined for a 66.7 save percentage so far.
Conference play starts with No. 14 Penn State (2-1-2) on Sept. 15. In 2022, finished in second place in the Big Ten.
