COLUMBUS, Ohio - David Tiemstra scored in the 45th minute of action and the Ohio State men's soccer team held on for a 1-0 win over Michigan and the Big Ten Championship Saturday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in front of season-high 1,081 fans. With their first outright regular-season title in program history, the Buckeyes (10-4-4, 4-2-0 Big Ten) earn the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament next week in Bloomington, Ind., and will face the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed game.
"The effort of our team tonight was tremendous," head coach John Bluem said. "The organization and the timely goal by David Tiemstra were just fantastic. I am just real proud of the guys; they have never given up this year, even though we have kind of had a roller coaster type of season."
Tiemstra's goal, his first of the season, came with two seconds remaining in the first half off a corner kick by Eric Shrigley. Shrigley played the ball from the left corner across the goal box where Chris Gomez kept it from going out of bounds by flicking it out to Tiemstra at the top of the goal box. The sophomore from Clarendon Hills, Ill., then shot it over the head of Michigan (10-6-1, 2-4-0) goalkeeper Chris Blais and into the upper left corner of the net.
"I still have the chills," Tiemstra said after the game. "The rest of the game I just had the chills. When you don't have a lot of energy left at the end of the game, that just kept me ... I mean, it's unbelievable."
The goal came on the Buckeyes' eighth shot of the half after nearly 45 minutes of bombarding the Wolverine defense. From the opening whistle, Ohio State controlled play offensively and made several solid runs but sent all seven of the ensuing shots wide.
More pressure came in the second period as Ohio State produced nine shots and continued to push forward on the attack. Michigan fought back, however, and came up with several close opportunities from the likes of Mauro Fuzetti and Justin Heram that were squelched by the Buckeye defense and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Matt Lampson.
Lampson, a native of nearby Hilliard, Ohio, strengthened his bid for Big Ten Freshman of the Year by finishing the night with a career-high eight saves, including five in the second half, and three in the final 10 minutes alone, against Michigan's 10 second-half shots.
After the all-around team effort, the magnitude of the win was not lost on anyone.
"I am pretty speechless," junior captain Matt Gold said. "I think I almost broke down in tears the last 30 seconds. Like I started hyperventilating. I have never experienced that before. It's just a sweet, sweet feeling."
The Buckeyes took home a share of the 2004 Big Ten title and won the tournament in 2000 and 2007. They will begin play for their third tourney title Friday in the conference semifinals. Stay tuned to OhioStateBuckeyes.com for more information.
