The Cooldown: Penn State, Ohio State Revivals Highlight Weekend

Ohio State has come back from the dead after a season-opening loss to Utah.

Penn State came back from the dead Saturday.

The revivals mean that No. 1 and unbeaten Maryland will not have an easy path to a Big Ten championship.

On the heels of back-to-back losing seasons, the Buckeyes started 2025 by giving up 19 goals to Utah. The Buckeyes were written off almost immediately.

Wins over Detroit Mercy, Cleveland State, Bellarmine and Air Force were nice, but didn’t change the narrative. A 14-5 domination of Virginia started to raise some eyebrows, but even then it was more of a “what’s wrong with Virginia” vibe.

No more.

A 10-9 victory over two-time national champion Notre Dame on Saturday has the Buckeyes clearly back in the national spotlight. Since the opening game meltdown, Ohio State’s defense has held opponents to single digits in six of its current seven-game winning streak.

Defenseman Bobby Van Buren has been an absolute menace after missing most of last season with an injury and sophomore Caleb Fyock regained his starting position in goal after the opener. Fyock has been lights out with a 64.1 save percentage and a 5.52 goals against average.

Despite 20 saves from Notre Dame goalie Thomas Ricciardelli goalie on Saturday, the Buckeyes stepped up when it mattered. After the Irish had rallied with three straight goals to take a 9-8 lead, Ohio State freshman middie Liam White showed no hesitation when left alone and buried the game tying-goal with 4:31 to play.

Late in the game, after a Notre Dame turnover, Ohio State set up for the game-winning shot. A nifty backdoor cut by Shane O’Leary opened him up and Garrett Haas fed O’Leary for the game-winner.

Fought ‘til the end 😤#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/0twWMTRjxl

— Ohio State Men's Lacrosse (@OhioStateMLAX) March 8, 2025