No. 17 Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor, face rival Michigan Tuesday

The No. 17 Ohio State men’s soccer team returns to action for the first time in six days in a rivalry match at Michigan Tuesday.

The Buckeyes (6-1-4, 2-1-1 Big Ten), ranked sixth in the Big Ten, are coming off a 3-2 win against Northern Kentucky Wednesday but have not won a conference matchup since Sept. 18 in a 2-1 result over then-No. 15 Indiana.

Following the Buckeyes at seventh in the conference standings, the Wolverines (3-6-3, 1-3-1 Big Ten) return to Ann Arbor after a 2-1 loss at Wisconsin Friday. Michigan has struggled in Big Ten play, with its only win coming in a 3-1 result at Northwestern Sept. 23.

Head coach Brian Maisonneuve said the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is special because it doesn’t apply just to American football.

“Whether it’s football or Olympic sports, I think you know that rivalry is a lot of fun to be a part of,” Maisonneuve said.

Freshman midfielder Ashton Bilow, a New Albany, Ohio, native said it is surreal to potentially play in a match where the rivalry is so close to home and means so much to his family and hometown.

“We have two great programs, across every sport, and I think football is going to take a lot of the focus in most sports,” Bilow said. “Pretty much every, like, team has the same goals of winning the Big Ten, winning a national championship and beating the team up north.”

Junior midfielder Laurence Wootton said everyone has this match circled on their calendars.

Wootton said the rivalry game means a lot to him because of his last-minute, game-winning goal against Michigan in 2021.

“I’ll remember it for a long time,” Wootton said. “It means as much as it does to the football team, and hopefully it means as much to everyone else as well. It means a lot to us and hopefully to the fans and everyone watching.”

Redshirt junior defender Owen Sullivan said the Big Ten has a higher intensity than nonconference play because everyone plays like “it’s their last game of the season.”

He said on top of the rivalry, this is a must-win game as only five Big Ten matchups remain for the Buckeyes.

“Everyone knows it’s super important to pick up points to make sure you get a good enough record to get into the NCAA tournament, but let alone the Big Ten tournament because obviously, last place doesn’t make it,” Sullivan said. “All those guys, I mean, again, you get down a goal, and they’re just starting to throw numbers up.”

Maisonneuve said while the scoring margin between the Buckeyes, who have scored 19 goals, and the Wolverines, who have netted nine, is not close, Michigan makes plenty of opportunities but doesn’t have luck finding the back of the net.

“They’re finding their form,” Maisonneuve said. “They’re a good team, and with good teams, it doesn’t last that long in terms of not scoring goals. And they’re starting to score them. So, unfortunately for us, I wish we would have had them early in the season, but you know, they’re good on both sides of the ball.”

Maisonneuve and Wootton both said senior midfielder Iñaki Rodriguez has been a problem for other teams this season, leading the Wolverines with two goals, one assist and five points.

“He’s very dangerous going forward,” Maisonneuve said. “He’s talented, he can shoot from a distance. He can beat you off the dribble, he’s a handful.”

Wootton, 11 games into the season, said Ohio State’s biggest strength has been its depth. He said several of his teammates are stepping up when others get injured.

“I think what we’ve proven, and we’ve shown is that we can — like we’ve all had injuries, and we’ve all had time, you know, on the bench and off the pitch, where we couldn’t played as many minutes as we wanted to and other guys have stepped up,” Wootton said. “The freshmen, sophomores, juniors and all played really well. So, it’s not something that we’re too concerned about.”

The rival matchup between the Buckeyes and Wolverines kicks off at 7 pm from the University of Michigan Soccer Stadium Tuesday.