CARY, N.C. − Ohio State conceded an early goal and chased an equalizer that never materialized as the country’s No. 1-ranked men’s soccer team fell to No. 13-seeded Marshall 1-0 in the NCAA semifinals on Friday night.
The Buckeyes close their season at 16-2-4. Marshall (14-1-7) will play unseeded Vermont in Monday’s championship game of the NCAA Tournament.
Tarik Pannholzer took a long outlet pass from goalie Aleksa Janjic and finished the breakaway chance in the seventh minute for the game’s lone goal.
While Ohio State reached new heights for its program with that No. 1 ranking, Buckeye players and coaches dealt with raw emotions in the last week for one of their own. Back home in Columbus, Nathan Demian, a redshirt junior and Vancouver, British Columbia native, remained in recovery at OSU Wexner Medical Center from a gunshot wound suffered Sunday.
Demian was struck by a stray-bullet while walking on a sidewalk on Chittenden Avenue, Columbus police said. According to the CTV report, Demian nearly died on the operating table, but the player’s condition has been improving “almost miraculously,” Ohio State coach Brian Maisonneuve said earlier this week.
Before Friday’s game, Demian offered support to his teammates from his hospital bed.
“I really wish I could be with you guys in Cary right now, but just having those moments before you guys left really meant the world to me,” Demian said in a video uploaded to the soccer team’s Instagram account Friday. “I’m so excited to watch you guys just go out and dominate and put in all the work, all the effort, all the grind that we’ve done this whole entire year to show the whole world what Ohio State is about.”
In Friday’s semifinal, Ohio State had decided edges in shots (20-8) and corners (7-2), but couldn’t solve Aleksa Janjic, who finished with five stops, including a kick save on the doorstep about 17 minutes into the second half.
Ohio State goalie Max Trejo had five saves.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
