When Ohio State traveled to Towson on a freezing cold day on March 15, it had the magnitude of a typical nonconference showdown between ranked teams. Sure, it was compelling in nature given that both teams were in the top 20, but who would have believed that it was a preview for the men's final four?

Ohio State, the third seed in the NCAA tournament, and unseeded Towson will battle in the first game of Saturday's men's final four doubleheader at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The Buckeyes cruised past Loyola and Duke en route to the national semifinals, and Towson pulled upsets of No. 7 Penn State and No. 2 Syracuse to get there.

One thing is for certain, we'll be watching two of the nation's best defenses go at it. In the regular season meeting, the Buckeyes took home the 6-3 victory. There might be a bit more scoring on Saturday, but both teams are built around their back ends, and they are not deviating from that identity now.

Not many could have predicted this final four matchup, but here we are. Ohio State will be looking for its first championship game appearance and Towson its second in school history. Whoever wins, it should be historic.

Ohio State

Towson

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Ohio State's balance fueled its first championship weekend appearance.

Although its opponent may be a bigger Cinderella in this year’s tournament, Ohio State is headed to the final four for the first time in school history. The Buckeyes blew past Duke in the quarterfinals — a round that had doomed them on three previous occasions.

Ohio State was one of the most consistent and balanced teams in the nation, with a suffocating defense that helped beat Towson and Denver in March. However, the offense, led by Tre LeClaire and Eric Fannell, is catching fire at the right time. Can they carry the Buckeyes to a first championship game?

Towson is riding tough defense and timely offense into third final four.

Shawn Nadelen and his Tigers are into the final four for the first time since 2001 after upsetting No. 7 Penn State and No. 2 Syracuse in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively. Make no mistake about it, Towson is built around a stingy defense and solid goalkeeping from Matt Hoy.

The rope unit with names like Zach Goodrich, Jack Adams and Tyler Mayes have fueled lockdown performances all season long and will be looked to do the same if the Tigers want to advance to a second national title game in school history.

Strengths

Jake Withers is dominant on faceoffs, as the Buckeyes can shut down stars.

Much like Towson, Ohio State is strong on the defensive end. With a top-10 defense, the Buckeyes have given themselves a chance to win every game this season with an average margin of defeat of just three goals. Led by Ben Randall and Erik Evans, Ohio State shut down Pat Spencer and Justin Guterding en route to wins over Loyola and Duke.

Another huge boost for Ohio State has been faceoff man Jake Withers, who has won 66 percent of his faceoffs to rank fourth in the nation. He won 11 of 13 faceoffs against Towson when the teams met in March.

“Obviously, the challenge of going against Jack Withers is pretty daunting,” Nadelen said. “He’s been terrific. He really took it to us in the game during the regular season there.”

Towson's identity is its defense.

Defense. Defense. Defense. That’s the name of Towson’s game and Nadelen makes no effort to deviate from his team’s DNA. Led by a rope unit that rivals any in the nation, which includes Zach Goodrich, Tyler Mayes and Jack Adams, the Tigers ranked third in the nation in defense.

“They have one of the most elite defensive midfield units in the country and maybe the past decade or so,” Myers said. “I certainly haven’t seen a defensive midfield collectively as talented as the one we’re going to face on Saturday at noon.”

The Towson defensive midfield was crucial in holding the duo of Nick Mariano and Sergio Salcido to a goal and an assist last weekend. In four postseason games this year, Towson has allowed 23 goals.

Also, just like Ohio State, Towson boasts a top-15 faceoff man in Alex Woodall, if healthy.

Weaknesses

Is Ohio State's offense consistent enough to win it all?

As is the case with every team left, there aren’t many weaknesses. The offense, for as well as it played against Duke, hasn’t always been that efficient. The Buckeyes scored four, six and seven (twice) goals in a game this season.

Granted, they went 2-2 in those games. Another potential concern is the lack of production form the midfield. Just one of Ohio State’s top six scorers comes from the midfield.

It did Sunday, but will Towson shoot lights out again?

Although it had surprising success against Syracuse in the quarters, Towson struggles with shot accuracy. Some of the 25.4 shot percentage comes from possession shots, but it still indicates a team that could be more efficient on offense.

And it was Sunday, leading to a 6-0 first quarter. Still, the Tigers will need to be much better than the No. 48 offense in the country to beat Ohio State.

“As a team early in the year, they weren’t shooting the ball as well as they would have liked,” Myers said of Towson. “Right now, it seems like they’re really hitting their spots and capitalizing on their opportunities.”

X-Factor

Tom Carey needs to step up for Ohio State once again.

Much of Ohio State’s success holding opponents to under 10 goals can be attributed to the play of goalie Tom Carey. Carey was benched for two games this season — against Marquette and Bellarmine — but returned to complete an All-Big Ten First Team season.

He has 26 saves in the two NCAA tournament wins to date. His performance on Saturday will be key against a Towson offense that is starting to hit its spots and likes to draw possessions out as long as possible.

“Tommy Carey, we sat him down in the Midwest Classic [in March],” Myers said. “We went with Matt Schmidt. That was a healthy scratch, we went with the goalie that was playing better at that time. Tommy responded really well. It wasn’t personal, it’s just we needed to get a better work week and a better practice from Tom.

"… When you have veteran guys that allow you as a coach to say ‘Listen man. I love you, but there’s more in the tank and you need to know and this is what we need from you,'" he said. "They really embraced that.”

Will Alex Woodall be healthy enough to compete with Jake Withers?

As mentioned before, the health of faceoff man Alex Woodall is hugely important for this game. He injured his left hamstring in the win over Penn State, but returned to win 9 of 19 faceoffs against Ben Williams and Syracuse. 

Woodall won five out of seven faceoffs in the first quarter, but went 4-for-12 the rest of the way. If Woodall struggles against Withers, Towson could look to Connor Harryman for help. Also important is the Tigers’ wing play, which will help support whoever is taking faceoffs against Withers.

“Alex is continuing to recover from his injury, just like he did last week,” Nadelen said. “He was pretty sore after the game on Sunday and we’re going to continue to monitor for that. … It’s not just going to be Alex. We’re going to have to utilize some other guys against Jake. Everyone has to be ready, not just the faceoff guys but the wing guys, to support and do a better job than we did the first time out against Ohio State.”

Towson is a team built on gaining possessions and making the most of them. If Withers has a repeat performance at the faceoff x, it will be tough for the Tigers to keep up.

Best-Kept Secret

Randall and Evans provided lockdown defensive efforts against Loyola and Duke.

Ohio State has advanced past two teams — Loyola and Duke — that boast standout players. Loyola’s Pat Spencer and Duke’s Justin Guterding were held to three goals and two assists combined on nine shots. 

Ben Randall was responsible for silencing Spencer, and Erik Evans the same for Guterding. Randall and Evans might not get the attention of their offensive teammates, but they’ll play just as big a role against players like Ryan Drenner and Joe Seider on Saturday.

Matt Hoy provided the turning point for Towson's season.

He may have gained some notoriety from his 12-save performance against Syracuse, but Matt Hoy has been a major part of Towson’s stingy defense in the second half of the 2017 season. Since taking over the starting job on April 1, he's posted a 6.63 goals against average while making over eight saves per game. 

As a result, the Tigers are 7-1 with him in between the pipes. He’ll need to be as strong against Fannell and the Ohio State offense as he was last weekend. Ohio State did not face Hoy in the regular season matchup in March, for what it's worth.

Ground Balls

2.44

Caused turnovers per game for Towson’s Tyler Mayes, which ranks fourth in the nation. He and the rest of the Tigers' rope unit have bothered opposing offenses all season long.

10

Points from Towson’s Joe Seider in the last two games. He had four goals and two assists in the win over Penn State and followed it with four goals against Syracuse. If Seider is one, the Towson offense hits another gear.

11

Different Buckeyes with at least 10 points this season, up from eight last season. It's a sign of the increased depth and balance of the Buckeyes' offense.

39.1

Shot percentage for Ohio State freshman Tre Leclaire, which is over 10 percent better than any Towson players per 20 shot attempts. If he can convert somewhere close to this number, Ohio State will be able to make the most of its possessions.

72.7

Save percentage for Tom Carey against Towson on March 15. He made eight saves and allowed just three goals. If the Tigers shoot as well as they did against Syracuse, Carey will need a repeat performance to help the Ohio State defense.

Coaches’ Corner

Ohio State coach Nick Myers

Myers knows this is a bigger stage than any of his players has ever reached, but he’s not worried about the nerves that might accompany such a moment.

“This is a team that has played on big stages,” he said. “They’ve been on TV a lot, they’ve had cameras in the lockerroom all year. … They’ll put lines on the field like they have all year and we’re excited to play between them.”

It certainly doesn’t hurt that the Buckeyes have played, and beaten, each of the three remaining teams in the final four.

“It’s not something where our mean are looking at this final four and feeling like there is a mountain to climb in terms of ‘How are we going to compete with these teams?’” Myers said. “We’ve beaten every team in the tournament left. We’ve beaten all three of these teams. … Our biggest opponent is us. We really feel that. The toughest team we play is ourselves.”

Towson coach Shawn Nadelen

Towson coach Shawn Nadelen makes no mistake that the heart of his team comes from the rope unit that performed so well against Syracuse. It takes a certain type of player, and mentality for that matter, to be a successful short-stick midfielder. He doesn’t want to use the word bully, but he said being physical is vital for the position.

“In that type of position, you have to make it personal,” he said. “You have to have that competitive edge. You know you’re going to get picked on, you know the other teams is going to try to expose you. You have to be up for that challenge and you have to take the fight to them. Our guys have done a good job of embracing that role. … Our defense helps with slides and rotations, but the shorties, it’s a mental thing and something that you have to embrace and be able to try to dominate your matchup knowing its a big piece of your defense.”

Making the Case

Ohio State

Ohio State pulled the upset of Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium on March 15. It was a dreary day, but the Buckeyes had bright spots both at the faceoff x and in goal. Withers dominated Woodall and Harryman and Ohio State pulled away with a three-goal fourth quarter.

If the Buckeyes want to advance to the national championship game, the formula won’t be much different. Withers will need to win his battle with Woodall, as the numbers suggest he would. If that happens, Ohio State will have more possessions to work with, and with a more efficient offense than two months ago, that might be all it takes.

Carey, for his part, has emerged as one of the top goalies in the nation. He stopped eight of 11 shots on goal against Towson in the earlier meeting. The Tigers are finding their groove offensively, and will most likely find more than 11 shots on goal, so it’s up to Carey to come up with another strong performance to stop Seider and Co.

 Luckily for Ohio State, both Withers and Carey are capable of stepping up to the occasion. This formula, combined with production from Fannell and Leclaire, should spell a victory for Ohio State.

Towson

Towson showed off how a defense can completely take hold of a game when it suffocated Syracuse for most of its upset win over the Orange on Sunday. Quieting Mariano and Salcido throughout the game was an accomplishment in itself. Ohio State may not have the offensive firepower than Syracuse did, but the Tigers’ will need to bring the same intensity on Saturday.

Leclaire and Fannell are definitely capable of lighting up the scoreboard (see 16 goals against Duke). Unlike the Blue Devils, though, Towson’s defense won’t over-commit on Ohio State. The one area of the game where the Tigers have a clear advantage is at defensive midfield — and that upperhand needs to be apparent if they want to advance to the title game.

Remember that 6-0 first quarter against Syracuse? That efficiency will have to return and span all four quarters. Towson had six goals on nine shots on goal. That’s a big improvement on the 57 percent shots on goal percentage the Tigers posted this season. Obviously, Seider and Drenner aren’t going to click that well for 60 consecutive minutes, but if they generate somewhere close to the same production, Towson will have the advantage on offense.

But it all comes down to possessions. Woodall, healthy or not, needs to win close to 50 percent of his faceoffs. He’s better than what he showed in the first matchup between the teams, but he’s also not 100 percent. When Ohio State takes the momentum, Woodall needs to be the guy to stop with it a big faceoff win. If Towson’s faceoff unit can go toe-to-toe with Withers, it should be in position to win this game and move on to its second title game.