Ohio State and Maryland Advance to Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship

Photo by Jaime Crawford 

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL 

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ohio State and Maryland won their respective Big Ten Tournament semifinal games Thursday afternoon to advance to Saturday's championship. 
 
Ohio State (13-2) bested Rutgers (7-9) 11-7 in the first semifinal matchup at U-M Lacrosse Stadium. 

The No. 1 seed Buckeyes trailed 2-1 early in the first period after two consecutive goals from the No. 5 seed Scarlet Knights' Colin Kurdyla. Ohio State then responded with a 5-0 run, holding Rutgers scoreless until 12:03 in the third period. Rutgers never got within two goals the remainder of the game. 

Gannon Matthews and Alex Marinier each notched a hat trick, and Big Ten Specialist of the Year Caleb Fyock totaled 14 saves on 21 shots to keep the Scarlet Knights at bay. 
 
No. 2 seed Maryland prevailed 10-8 against No. 3 seed Penn State. The Terrapins (10-3) lead 6-2 at the end of the first half, but the Nittany Lions (10-4) responded with a four-goal run to tie the game 6-6 entering the fourth quarter.  

After back-and-forth goals from each team, Maryland jumped out to a 9-7 lead after two goals from Daniel Kelly with 5:18 remaining. Kelly had five goals on the day and Matthew Keegan added a hat trick for the Terrapins. 

Despite the Nittany Lions 18-4 advantage in the crease on the day, the Maryland defense held strong in the final minutes to close out the win. 
 
Ohio State and Maryland meet at 8 p.m. ET Saturday in the Big Ten Championship Game. The last time Maryland and Ohio State met in the championship game, the Terrapins prevailed 10-9 thanks to a late fourth period goal by Colin Heacock. 

If Ohio State wins, it will be their first Big Ten Tournament Championship title. Maryland will look to claim its fifth and first since 2022.