US Lacrosse Magazine released the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason Top 20 on Jan. 8. Team-by-team previews will be unveiled on uslaxmagazine.com throughout January and will also appear as part of the magazine’s NCAA preview edition that mails to US Lacrosse members Feb. 1 — opening day of the 2018 college lacrosse season.

No. 8 Ohio State

2017 Record: 16-5 (3-2 Big Ten)
Coach: Nick Myers (10th year)

All-Time Record: 477-413-5
NCAA Appearances: 6
Final Fours: 1
Championships: 0

Need a good quote or an inspirational meme? Nick Myers is your man.

Ever the teacher and motivator, the Ohio State men’s lacrosse coach has his favorites.

“You win with people,” he said, reciting legendary Buckeyes football coach Woody Hayes.

To that end, Myers has surrounded himself with some of the best in the business. Offensive coordinator Brad Ross is considered one of the sport’s brightest up-and-comers. Travis Crane ascended quickly from volunteer to defensive coordinator. Under their tutelage, attackman Tre Leclaire and defenseman Ben Randall emerged as elite players in 2017, propelling Ohio State to its first final four and an appearance in the NCAA championship game.

Myers and company doubled down on the recruiting trail over the summer looking to capitalize on the program’s momentum, which includes a future home in a $50 million facility and the hiring of former Buckeyes basketball strength and conditioning coach Dave Richardson to serve in the same role exclusively for lacrosse.

Some say Ohio State is due for a regression. But with national player of the year candidates in Leclaire and Randall, All-American d-middie Ryan Terefenko set to return from a knee injury sustained in the first round of the NCAA tournament and former U19 faceoff foes Christian Feliziani (USA) and Justin Inacio (Canada) vying to replace Jake Withers, the Buckeyes won’t fall too far back.

“I started as a volunteer here back in ’01,” Myers said. “This is my 15th season as a Buckeye. I had a meeting with [athletic director] Gene Smith this morning, and he’s very excited about lacrosse, very supportive. It feels great to be in a place where they care.”

The Case For Ohio State

The Buckeyes have alternated between outstanding and mediocre seasons of late (see “5-Year Trend” below), but their success on the recruiting trail should lead to more consistent excellence. Top scorer Eric Fannell and scrappy faceoff ace Jake Withers graduated, as did the underrated Johnny Pearson and one-time Bellarmine transfer Austin Shanks. All four were top-20 picks in the National Lacrosse League draft. But Ohio State’s real strength last season was its close defense, which returns all three starters. Randall, the Buckeyes’ first-ever first-team All-American after transferring to Ohio State from Stony Brook, Erik Evans, a team captain, and Matt Borges can be impenetrable.

The Case Against Ohio State

Oh, we forgot to mention Tom Carey graduated, too. The third-team All-American goalie vacates a spot that likely will be inherited by senior Matthew Smidt, who won both of his starts (against Marquette and Bellarmine) last year and also made 15 saves in an 8-7 win over UMass. Freshman Josh Kirson also will be in the mix. Neither of them is Carey, whom Myers lauded for his lacrosse IQ. And as good as the defense was in 2017, Withers removed much of the pressure by hoarding possessions. Feliziani and Inacio are good players around which to regroup at the X, but it will be difficult to replicate what Withers did, just as it will be difficult for Smidt to step into Carey’s shoes. Considering the significance of goalie and faceoff play, especially in the Big Ten, those are causes for unease.

Path to the Playoffs

The Buckeyes play eight teams ranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 and two more that received consideration. The Big Ten — featuring Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State, Penn State and Johns Hopkins — is a gauntlet. Leading up to conference play, the Buckeyes play Denver and Notre Dame in consecutive weeks March 17 and March 25, respectively. Those non-conference games will set the tone. 

Players To Watch

Tre Leclaire, A/M, So.
49G, 16 A

Myers’ time spent in the box lacrosse barns of British Columbia has yielded some terrific players in Columbus. Leclaire originally committed to Delaware when former Buckeye Logan Schuss encouraged Myers to take a look at the kid from a small town outside Vancouver. “The rest is history,” Myers said. Leclaire, the first Ohio State player to be named an All-American (third team) as a freshman, thriving after he moved from midfield to attack. “He’s not a traditional attackman by any means,” Myers said, who likes the flexibility he has with Leclaire and other “slash players” like Colin Chell and Jack Jasinski who can switch seamlessly between midfield and attack to take advantage of mismatches.

Ben Randall, D, Sr.
50 GB, 13 CT

Randall was a good defenseman at Stony Brook, but not this good. The Ohio native’s metamorphosis into one of the nation’s top shutdown defenders — he memorably stymied Loyola’s Pat Spencer in the NCAA quarterfinals — started with a commitment to learning the Buckeyes’ slide packages, studying opponents on film and finding his voice as a communicator. “He was all in from day one,” Myers said. “Ben studied the game. That was new for him. He studied Spencer. He studied [Matt] Rambo. He was getting a [No.] 1 almost every week — [Connor] Cannizzaro, [Shack] Stanwick — and they were all a little different. Ben opened up to the idea of watching film and studying those intricacies.”

Ryan Terefenko, SSDM, So.
28 GB, 11 PTS

Terefenko blew his knee out against Loyola in the first round of the NCAA tournament. “Not enough was made of that,” Myers said. It made Johnny Kelly to the first d-middie out of the box. Imagine if Ohio State had both players available against Maryland in the NCAA championship game. Perhaps Connor Kelly would not have blown up for five goals in the final. Terefenko is on track to be cleared at the end of this month, meaning the Buckeyes will start the season with their entire defensive midfield also intact.

National Rankings

Power Ratings (Scale of 1-5)

Offense
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Defense
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goalkeeping
⭐⭐

Faceoff
⭐⭐⭐

2

Canadians that could be starting on attack for the Buckeyes on opening day. Myers likes the combination of Leclaire and freshman Jackson Reid playing alongside the Baltimore product Chell, with freshman JT Bugliosi and Syracuse transfer Gale Thorpe providing depth up front. “A mix of MIAA with a little Vancouver and Ontario, it works if you can balance it,” Myers said. “You have to be open to being a little bit unconventional.”

5-Year Trend
Record (Win Pct.)

Coach Confidential
Nick Myers

“Our call to action this season has been BOOM — Brothers on One Mission. We’ve been breaking it down on BOOM since the fall. We’ve got a really great core group of guys that are excited for the season.”

Enemy Lines
Rival Coaches

“From nowhere to the championship game and back to nowhere? … Gone are fan-favorite and the inspirational Eric Fannell, Jake Withers at the FO X and Tom Carey in the goal, along with the scoring contributions of four midfielders, including Johnny Pearson. There are some special players returning, none more so than Tre Leclaire.  Few have been as impactful as he was during their first collegiate season of lacrosse.  The defense (Matt Borges, Ben Randall) is largely intact, so there is hope for the Buckeyes to be more of an ‘in’ than an ‘out,’ but they will be logging a lot more minutes as the absence of Withers will be felt. …. The only team in the country with two freshman All-Americans in 2017. … Leclaire is going to be a special one. That defense should be great. I think if they can find a goalie that gets them over 50 percent and a faceoff guy who gets them over 50 percent, that team will be right in the thick of it. … It’s concerning whenever you have to break in a new faceoff guy or a new goalie. You like to do one or another, not both. … What Nick’s done is ridiculous. They have some people in that group that people don’t even know about — big-time athletes. From a depth standpoint, they can afford to lose the people they lost and will still get out there and compete. … They caught some lightning in a bottle, between some transfers and other guys who hit at the right time. Everybody is going to want a piece of their tail. No team feels sorry for them. Teams will be coming after them every week.”