Olympic Recap: Field Hockey Topples No. 1 Iowa

On Sept. 29, the Buckeyes went on the road to Grant Field in Iowa City and took down the top team in the country, the Iowa Hawkeyes who were undefeated before this loss. Ohio State came into the game with a 9-2 record and already one top-10 win their resume on Sept. 15 over then-No. 8 Michigan.

The first half of the game was scoreless until senior forward Makenna Webster connected with the back of the cage as time expired in the second quarter off a penalty corner with assists by senior back Sarah Richards and freshman midfielder Anne Marie-Krebs. It was Webster’s team-leading 14^th goal of the season.

Iowa answered in the third quarter with freshman midfielder Dionne van Aasulum scoring her 22^nd goal of the season assisted by junior midfielder/back Lieve Schalk. Just over three minutes later, the Buckeyes breakout freshman forward Brenna Bough scored her seventh goal of the year off a penalty corner to give them the 2-1 lead that would end up being the final score.

Senior goalkeeper Abby Danson wasn’t busy, not recording a single save because the defense only allowed one shot on goal the entire game, which found the back of the cage for Iowa’s only score.

It’s the second straight year Ohio State was able to upset a top-10 Hawkeyes team, beating then-No. 5 Iowa on Oct. 14, 2022, by a score of 2-0. The Buckeyes already have as many wins as they finished with last season (11-8 record), sitting at 11-2 after beating Indiana 3-0 on Sunday. Bough also scored in that game, contributing to a performance that was good enough to win her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award.

With wins over two top-10 teams, they have proven they are one of the top teams in the country and are on track to make a possible NCAA tournament appearance if they continue playing as well as they are. It would be the program’s first appearance since 2011. Their only two losses are to No. 5 Louisville and No. 3 Northwestern, and in both games the Buckeyes were in it until the end.

There are only five more games until the Big Ten Tournament, but three of those will be against ranked opponents. Their next game, Oct. 6 at No. 16 Penn State, and two home matchups in the same weekend: Oct. 13 against the only undefeated team remaining in the country, No. 6-ranked Rutgers, and Oct. 15 against No. 8 Maryland, a team Ohio State has never beaten in program history.

Women’s And Men’s Fencing Go Undefeated

In the French Field House in Columbus for the OSU Duals, Ohio State men’s and women’s fencing both finished 5-0 Oct. 1, beating Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Oberlin and Case Western.

The women didn’t drop a point in foil, winning 45-0, while saber was 43-2 and epee was 40-5 making all three teams undefeated for the day. Freshman Maria Alexe and junior Katherine Larimer were both 11-0 in saber and sophomore Hamsika Arnipalli was 9-2. Freshman Raiyan Moradi-Bidhendi was 6-0 in foil while junior Anna Heiser and freshman Sydney Brush were both 5-0. In epee, sophomore Sally Fan was 6-2, with sophomore Julia Semikin going 5-0, sophomore Cara Santos at 5-3 and junior Talia Weiss at 3-0.

The men were a combined 41-4 in saber, 39-6 in foil and 38-7 in epee, all three teams going undefeated as well. Freshman Samuel Rightler was 10-1 in saber, the best on the team, and sophomore Aaron Buergenthal was 9-1, while sophomore Hank Bauer and senior Vincent Haney were both 7-0.

Junior Isaac Ariza led the foil squad with a 14-1 record with freshman Samuel Freedman going 9-1 and sophomore Craig Upton at 8-2. In epee, freshman Ayush Shah led with a record of 12-0, junior Anitya Kumar was 12-3 and senior Clark Kokenge was 8-1.

The next time the team will be active is at Penn State for the Garrett Open on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22.

Women’s Hockey Splits Opening Series With No. 4 Colgate

Sept. 29 was the women’s hockey team’s first game since the national championship loss to Wisconsin, and they weren’t able to start the season off on the right foot against the No. 4-ranked team in the country.

Colgate scored twice in the first period, and with sophomore forward Sloane Matthews and graduate transfer forward Hannah Bilka scoring in the second and third periods, respectively, to tie the game up at two, but it wasn’t enough to get the win with the Raiders scoring the game winner with just 39 seconds to go in the third.

The Buckeyes returned the next day to pick up their first win of the season, flipping the 3-2 score into their favor, needing overtime to secure the victory. Two of the three goals were scored by Matthews, and the game-winner found the back of the net off the stick of senior forward Jenna Buglioni 2:32 into the overtime period.

The No. 2 Buckeyes come into the season with very high hopes, making it to the national championship in both of the last two years, winning it all in 2021. Their next game will be on the road again, this time against No. 6 Minnesota Duluth. They will match up for two games on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, both of which will be at 4 p.m.