Ohio State Men’s Soccer Falls to Marshall, 1-0, in NCAA Semifinals

The top-seeded Buckeyes saw their season come to an end on Friday as they were upset by No. 13 seed Marshall, 1-0, in the semifinals of the NCAA College Cup in Cary, North Carolina.

Ohio State outshot the Thundering Herd 20-8 but was never able to find the back of the net as it was shut out for just the second time all season.

Marshall took the lead less than seven minutes into the match when Tarik Pannholzer broke free for a goal. After a shot from Ohio State’s David Ajagbe hit the top of the goal, Ohio State defender Siggi Magnusson collided with goaltender Max Trejo, leaving the net wide open for Pannholzer to put a point on the board.

The Buckeyes spent the rest of the game on the attack had plenty of chances to tie the game over the next 83 minutes, but were never able to convert as Marshall goalie Aleksa Janjic stopped all five of Ohio State’s shots on goal to preserve a clean sheet.

The loss was a tough end to a difficult week for Ohio State, who made the trip to Cary without senior defender Nathan Demian, who had to watch the game from the hospital after he was injured in an off-campus shooting followed Ohio State’s NCAA quarterfinal over Wake Forest last weekend. The Buckeyes honored Demian, who shared an inspirational message with the team before the game, by wearing “Do It For Dolla” shirts (“Dolla” is Demian’s nickname) during warmups and badges with his No. 3 on their jerseys during the game.

Despite the semifinal defeat, Ohio State’s 2024 season will go down as one of the best in program history. The Buckeyes went 16-2-4, won the Big Ten Tournament and a share of the regular-season Big Ten championship and earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the College Cup for the second time in program history.