BALTIMORE — Virtually no part of new Johns Hopkins coach Peter Milliman’s first nine-plus months on the job have occurred in ideal fashion, a global pandemic wiping out all on-campus activity until right around the turn of the new year.

The Blue Jays’ first game under Milliman didn’t unfold in storybook fashion either, a 14-8 setback against Ohio State at Homewood Field.

“I felt like we had troubles getting off the bus, even though it was a home game,” Milliman said. “It just took us a little while to get out of the locker room and get out of our own way. But I think we maybe got a little bit anxious for the start of this after the long time off. Guys were just a little hesitant to start the game. I think we talked our way through it and slowly progressed.”

Tre Leclaire scored four goals, Griffin Hughes had three goals and one assist and Jack Myers added a hat trick for the Buckeyes in the opener of a 10-game, all-Big Ten schedule for both teams.

Neither team had even managed to scrimmage in the preseason, creating the exact sort of uncertainty coaches detest but will be forced to live with for much of this season.

Hopkins had a new coaching staff, new schemes and less practice time than the Buckeyes. For its part, Ohio State had Leclaire, long pole Jeff Henrick and do-everything midfielder Ryan Terefenko, each a fifth-year senior who provided stability from the start.

“Not necessarily the plays they made, but I think their poise, their presence, their voice, the ground balls,” Buckeyes coach Nick Myers said. “Guys like Ryan, Jeff and Tre, it was a day we were really going to have to rely on veterans. We really didn’t know what to expect from Hopkins.”

The Blue Jays probably weren’t sure what they would see on faceoffs with redshirt-junior Justin Inacio unavailable. The Buckeyes wound up rotating four players in Inacio’s stead, including Terefenko.

Facing off was about the only thing besides playing goalie that Terefenko hasn’t done in his career. Myers approached him about the possibility of trying it about a week ago, and Terefenko was a commendable 5-for-9 at the X, with assists from both solid wing play and the new faceoff rules.

“I think these faceoffs, it’s less of a faceoff and more of a ground ball battle, which I’m really into,” Terefenko said. “That was just my goal this game: Get the ball on the ground as much as possible and try to make it a 50/50 ground ball and see if myself or one of my two wing guys could pick it up for us.”

The Buckeyes spread the wealth early and often. Ohio State bolted to a 5-1 lead after one quarter thanks to goals from five different players, and the Blue Jays would never get any closer than four the rest of the way.

While the Buckeyes picked on a Hopkins defensive midfield that endured its share of problems while going 2-4 a year ago, it wasn’t as if they enjoyed a ton of continuity. Myers said he used some players with three or four practices to their credit this year, and Hughes and Grant Mitchell (two goals) had only a few reps running together on the same midfield line in the preseason.

Holding it all together was, unsurprisingly, Terefenko. Even without the faceoffs, it was a standard-issue game for arguably the college game’s best all-around midfielder. He scored a goal, collected a half-dozen ground balls and was a presence at the defensive end in front of new starting goalie Skylar Wahlund (11 saves).

“He really stirs the drink,” Myers said of Terefenko. “He got guys playing faster offensively. He got down in the defensive end and made some big clears, won some big faceoffs. It’s hard to describe how important he is to us. Just the fact he does a little bit of everything, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to coach him for another year.”

Ohio State mixed up its defenses, switching from zone to man and back again and largely frustrated the Hopkins offense. Senior Connor DeSimone, a starting midfielder a year ago who moved to attack in the Blue Jays’ new offense, had three goals and an assist.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes limited holdover stars Joey Epstein and Cole Williams to a combined two goals on five shots.

“To their credit, they knew we hadn’t practiced a lot and were probably still installing some stuff, so they threw a lot at us,” Milliman said. “I thought it was a great move by them. Even if we had a zone offense we were comfortable going to, we probably hadn’t run a lot of it, so it made sense to throw the kitchen sink at us.”

At the other end, Hopkins improved as the day unfolded. The Buckeyes generated some clear looks against goalie Josh Kirson, an Ohio State transfer, while building a 9-2 lead in the first half.

Still, Kirson made some fine stops en route to a 13-save day, and the Blue Jays tightened up on defense in the second half. It wasn’t enough to deny Ohio State a victory in the opener, but it was an encouraging sign for Hopkins that it adapted as well as it did.

“I think he probably reflected a lot of what the defensive progress was, too,” Milliman said. “I don’t know if he was great early, but I don’t know if he was getting a lot of help. It was nice to see as we started to settle in defensively, Josh got to see a little bit more and got a bit more comfortable. There are some shooters on that team he knows fairly well, so he was able to get his eyes on those balls and make some good plays.”

Ultimately, both teams reflected their current state of development. Ohio State could lean on an older roster familiar with a veteran head coach to stitch together enough to collect a victory in its first game in 347 days. Hopkins, to the surprise of no one given the conditions, has some work to do.

But at least it’s a beginning, something any team can appreciate in this particular February.

“We needed to start somewhere,” Milliman said. “It wasn’t pretty, but there was some learning in the game. There were some teachable moments. There were certainly some things we identified that are priorities that we need to work on.”