The Ohio State men’s soccer team won 3-2 over Northern Kentucky in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday. Credit: Zachary Riley | Photo Editor
The No. 17 Ohio State men’s soccer team defeated Northern Kentucky 3-2 on Connor Senn Memorial Match Day at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Wednesday.
The Buckeyes (6-1-4, 2-1-1 Big Ten) won their first game in four matches thanks to freshman midfielder Luciano Pechota’s 88th-minute goal on an assist from senior midfielder Xavier Green.
Redshirt junior defender Sean Ryan picked up a foul in the 18-yard box in the third minute for the Buckeyes, leading to a penalty kick for the Norse (3-7-1, 1-3 Horizon League). However, senior goalie Keagan McLaughlin saved the shot from Norse junior midfielder Deryn Armstrong.
After both teams had opportunities to score early, Green went down the middle of the field and hit a shot outside the 18-yard box to put the Buckeyes up 1-0 in the 16th minute.
Green said he was happy with his goal, but the team should have converted more opportunities in the match.
“The front four, we talked about it before the game,” Green said. “We just need to run at them and put it down their throats. So, that was my thought when I picked up the ball. I just thought, ‘Be direct as possible.’ And luckily, I had it sweet.”
Both teams played aggressively in the first half, with each picking up a yellow card each and over five fouls. The Buckeyes had 14 shots to five from the Norse and ended the half with a 43rd-minute goal from junior midfielder Laurence Wootton, assisted by redshirt senior midfielder Chris Dowling and freshman midfielder Ashton Bilow.
Wootton said it was nice to have his first goal in over a month, but it wasn’t easy because of Northern Kentucky’s physicality.
“We’ve got to learn to weather those storms,” Wootton said. “We came out on top. We had a lot of good chances again, as well. So yeah, just learn to bury them and fight these tough teams out as well.”
Ohio State honored former player Connor Senn at halftime with a moment of silence. Senn was playing in a match at Akron Sept. 26, 2001, when he went into cardiac arrest and died on the field.
The Buckeyes continue to honor Senn with donations to the Connor Senn Memorial Fundset up by his father Lance Senn shortly after his son’s passing to raise funds for research at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State.
Head coach Brian Maisonneuve said it’s great to have a match to honor Connor Senn for his work ethic and to be the “ultimate teammate.”
“That’s why we have the award at the end of every year — the Connor Senn award goes to what we consider the ultimate teammate,” Maisonneuve said. “That’s what his legacy at this program is, you know, whenever new guys come in, we talk about Connor, especially this week leading up to this game of just being that ultimate teammate. And we need, you know, the whole locker room doing that for each other.”
Although the Buckeyes were up two goals heading into the second half, the Norse came out aggressive, scoring two goals in two minutes. A 47th-minute goal from Armstrong on an assist from freshman midfielder Christian Sjølander cut the lead to one, and Sjølander assisted senior forward Sam Robinson to tie the match 2-2 in the 48th minute.
Northern Kentucky kept its intensity up the remainder of the match, picking up 10 fouls and a yellow card on graduate defender Sam Slocum leading to a minor scuffle.
While it seemed the match would end in a second-straight draw for the Buckeyes, Pechota’s late goal won the match. Pechota said this was a must-win game so he felt good to get his second goal of the season.
Maisonneuve said although his squad came out with a win, he wondered how to “stop the bleeding” in the second half. He said the offense could have come up with more goals in its 26 shots taken, and the defense gave the Norse “way too many chances.”
“A lot of credit goes to them, but we got to be better,” Maisonneuve said. “We got to be better on the day, we got to be better with the way we started, with our physical presence. And then still, even, I know I said I was a little disappointed from the defensive standpoint, but from the attacking standpoint, I thought we still could have created more.”
Pechota, Maisonneuve and the Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a rivalry game at Michigan Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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