Irish drop 5-4 decision to Ohio State.

April 14, 1999

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 14th-ranked Notre Dame men's lacrosse team suffered its third straight setback as the Irish dropped a 5-4 decision at Ohio State in a Great Western Lacrosse League matchup. Buddy Lange's goal with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Buckeyes to the win, its first victory over the Irish since the 1989 campaign.

Notre Dame (5-5, 3-1), which had won nine straight over Ohio State, led 4-1 midway through the third quarter before the Buckeyes scored four unanswered goals. Stedman Oakey (Charlottesville, Va.) tallied three goals in the contest, while Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.) added the other score.

Notre Dame was held scoreless in the second and fourth quarters, and the four goals were the fewest scored by an Irish team since the 1995 campaign when they dropped a 6-4 to Princeton on March 14.

Oakey got the Irish on the scoreboard with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter on a feed from Chris Young (Camillus, N.Y.). Kevin Johnson tied the game 57 seconds later before Bishko's goal off a Brad Owen (Amherst, N.H.) assist put the Irish up 2-1 with 25 seconds left in the quarter.

After a scoreless second quarter, Notre Dame gained the 4-1 lead on back-to-back goals by Oakey that came 33 seconds apart. Oakey's first goal with 9:55 remaining in the third quarter came off a David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) feed, while his second was assisted by John Flandina (West Islip, N.Y.).

The Buckeyes (5-3, 1-1) scored three goals in the final 7:01 of the third quarter to tie the game 4-4 heading into the final 15-minute stanza. Greg Zytkowski started the Buckeye rally before Sandy Boyce's two scores at 2;42 and 2:35 which tied the game at 4-4.

Notre Dame outshot the Buckeyes 27-15 in the game, but Irish goalie Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) made only five stops while allowing all five goals. Ohio State goalkeeper Mike Abeles had 11 saves in the game.

Notre Dame returns to action on Saturday, April 17 when the Irish play host to Army at 1:00 p.m. at Moose Krause Stadium.