Spring Semester Recap

The 2016 spring semester brought much success for the Buckeyes. They traveled all over the eastern United States and the Scarlet team went 14-2 for the semester.

To start the semester, the Buckeyes traveled to Chicago to compete in Northwestern University's Winter Classic Invitational. The first opponent was the Hawkeyes of the University of Iowa and the Buckeyes defeated the Big Ten foe, 18-10. Next up was two Great Lakes conference opponents and both games ended in victory for the Buckeyes, 12-2 versus Loyola University Chicago and 18-6 versus University of Chicago. Ohio State continued their spring success with a 12-9 win over the Beached Whales.

After their trip to the Windy City, the Buckeyes headed south for the winter to Auburn University. In the opening game of the Chris Young Memorial tournament, Ohio State dismantled Bluff City Water Polo, 14-4. The last game of group play matched the Buckeyes against Emory University, where the Buckeyes won the game, and the group, by a score of 16-1. Sunday morning started with a semifinal matchup against our in-state adversary, University of Cincinnati. Determined to make it back to the championship game for the second straight year, the Buckeyes took down the Bearcats, 10-5. The Buckeyes went on to capture the championship, winning 9-4 against Windy City.

After spring break, the Buckeyes couldn't get enough of the warm weather and headed to the University of North Carolina for the Easter Invitational. The first day of the tournament saw the Buckeyes add three more wins to their season, beating Clemson University (16-7), Virginia Tech (15-4), and former goalie Troy Karski with Charlotte Masters (10-9). An early start to the second day saw the Buckeyes slip up for the first time in the spring, falling 6-12 to NoVa.

The last tournament of the year was at home and it was a special one. Together with a girls team, the Buckeyes hosted the Katie Johanni Memorial tournament, in honor of the women's team's goalie Katie Johanni who passed away in the fall. The teams fundraised over $10,000 to donate to the SUDEP Foundation to fund their research. The men started the tournament with a trio of games against Ohio opponents. First up was the Dayton Flyers, where the Buckeyes won 11-4. Then the Buckeyes faced Columbus Masters and Columbus Youth, beating the old guys, 15-7, and the kids, 14-8. These victories put Ohio State in the championship game against Division II varsity program, Gannon University. A close, physical game ended tied at 6, and the Buckeyes were defeated 3-4 in a shootout. The Grey team also competed and beat conference foe Illinois State (7-6), but fell to Gannon (2-14), club national champion Lindenwood (6-16), and Columbus Water Polo (4-14).

The Buckeyes finished 30-4 on the year, and will look to continue the standard of success of Ohio State water polo next year.

Go Bucks!