Towson trails 2-4 in this series, and Ohio State took the last meeting, 16-6, on May 12, 2013, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes are 1-2 away from the friendly confines of Columbus, Ohio, while the Tigers are 2-1 at home this season.
Ohio State (6-2) moved into the top 20 of the latest Cascade/Maverik media poll, earning the No. 15 ranking after upsetting then-No. 3 Denver, 13-11, on Saturday. The catalyst in the team's comeback from an 11-9 deficit was senior attackman Jesse King, who assisted the game-tying goal and scored the eventual game-winner. The sixth overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse draft in January, King leads the offense in goals (21) and assists (12).
No. 18 Towson (5-2) has won four of its past five games, capping its spurt with a 9-6 victory over Hobart on Saturday. The offense has been powered by the duo of sophomore attackman Joe Seider and redshirt senior midfielder Andrew Hodgson, who each have registered 19 points. Seider leads the team in goals with 16, while Hodgson ranks second with 15 goals.
Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
1) Defense vs. defense. The Tigers have the No. 4 defense in Division I, surrendering just 7.3 goals per game. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Tyler White ranks third in goals-against average (7.08) and 12th in save percentage (.564). The Buckeyes rank fifth in defense after giving up an average of 7.4 goals per game. Sophomore goalie Tom Carey ranks fifth in goals-against average (7.46) and 13th in save percentage (.560).
"Regardless of if we have to play the entire game on the defensive end, you've still got to be able to make stops, and that's what we're going to focus on," Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said. "I'm sure they are as well. Both teams are disciplined, cohesive. Watching them on film and then kind of seeing how we've been playing, the defenses are similar."
2) Man-up vs. man-down. The Tigers can help themselves on offense by being more productive on extra-man opportunities. They have converted just 35.3 percent (6 of 17) of those chances, which ranks 41st in the country. But the unit will face its toughest test in an Ohio State man-down defense that has yet to allow a goal. The Buckeyes have faced a nation-low eight short-handed situations, which caught Nadelen's attention.
"I think they've had quite a few home games. It doesn't look like the officials in Columbus like to call penalties on the home team," he said. "They're a disciplined team, but that's not to say that they don't foul. … For us, we're not going to change what we do just to try to get them to have penalties. We're going to play, and if we draw a penalty and the refs call it, great. If they end up committing a foul and the refs don't call it, we've got to play our game and not worry if we're getting man-up opportunities."
3) Christopher May vs. Alec Burckley. Ohio State's defense has been aided by May, a fifth-year senior and Georgetown transfer who ranks fourth in the country in faceoff percentage (68.4 percent, 93-for-136) and eighth in ground balls per game (8.4). May's ability to win draws has given the Buckeyes a chance to win the time-of-possession battle, and Towson sophomore Burckley (tied for 38th at 50 percent, 47-for-94 and 23 ground balls) will get the first few shots at slowing down May.
"Alec is going to have his shot at him," Nadelen said. "He didn't have as good of an outing as he would have liked against Hobart. So hopefully, he comes back into this game with a little bit more of an edge. We always have all of our faceoff guys on deck. Our wing play needs to be much better than it was against Hobart. We had a lot of opportunities to make some ground balls go our way, which we didn't. There were 50-50 battles that we just didn't come up with.
"That's something that can hurt us. It takes possession time away, it decreases our opportunities to score goals, and it puts added pressure on our defense to have to dig in and make stops. So it's not just our faceoff guys, but our wing play needs to be involved. May does a great job of keeping the ball to himself. So whoever is at the X for us is going to have to be dialed in. I think our faceoff guys are ready for that challenge."