.jpg)
5 hours ago
1
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State men's lacrosse goalie Caleb Fyock blocks the net with help from a loose jersey and sweatpants, but that's not why the 6-foot-2, 297-pound sophomore inherited a generational nickname.
Say hello to "Big Tasty." Fyock ranks second in the nation with a 61.1% save percentage. He helped Ohio State win its first Big Ten men's lacrosse championship in a thrilling 10-8 victory at rival Michigan on April 19. The Buckeyes resume action against Rutgers in the Big Ten tournament at 5 p.m. on Thursday – and Fyock's nickname promises to be a talking point throughout the upcoming 2025 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. How did he get that, again?
"About elementary school, me and my family watched a show called 'The Goldbergs,'" Fyock said. "With me being a middle child, there was a middle child named Barry who was full of energy, outgoing, and called himself 'Big Tasty.' I kind of just took that nickname and made it my own thing."
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
So, the inspiration is "The Goldbergs" and not Goldberg from "The Mighty Ducks” – the other frequent comparison for goalies from all sports. Fyock is without a doubt a bring-your-own-energy goalie – and that could be seen at Ohio State's practice on April 23 in a 6-on-6 drill with each save and clear. He leans into it, too, with @big_tasty_hawk as his Instagram handle. He is infectious.
"I always tell people Caleb's never had a bad day on the lacrosse field," Ohio State men's lacrosse coach Nick Myers said. "He has a smile on his face. He loves to compete. He's bringing intensity to drills. He's challenging guys. He's talking and creating an edgy environment. All those things make it really fun. Guys love playing in front of him."
Ohio State (12-2) allows 8.8 goals per game heading into the Big Ten tournament. Fyock is one of four goalies with a save percentage better than 60% this season. Ohio State senior defender Bobby Van Buren watched the defense – which includes close defense, midfield defense and long-stick midfielders – improve with each game. Fyock, of course, is the last imposing line of defense.
"He's only gotten better each week," Van Buren said. "You know he's going to make some miraculous saves. It gives you the confidence to not play scared."
How 'Big Tasty' arrived at Ohio State at the right time
Fyock — the son of Robert and Jessica Fyock – is the middle child between his older brother Aleric – a redshirt senior goalie at Penn State and younger sister Addison. Caleb played at St. John's College in Bowie, Md., and he knows the exact time of his first call he received from Ohio State.
It was 12:05 a.m. – five minutes after the recruiting window opened. Myers was on the other end of the line.
"I thought about schools before the recruiting process and Ohio State was one of them. After that, I visited (Maryland) the week before and visited here," Fyock said. "Then I committed on the first day and canceled my visits.
"While being recruited Coach Myers had a vision," Fyock said. "First build a stadium, then hang a banner, which I'm happy to say we'll be doing this year."
Fyock was drawn to the program at Ohio State. The Buckeyes opened a new lacrosse stadium in 2023 with 2,100 seats and more than enough standing room. With Fyock, Myers was drawn to one of the most-important attributes for goalies of all sizes.
"He's got exceptional hand-eye coordination, which is critical for a goalie," Myers said. "He's very patient. At his size and his athletic ability, his ability to shrink the goal for shooters is a very intimidating thing at times. You don't feel like you have a lot to look at."
Myers tells goalies that making five out of nine saves is playing at an All-American level. That is part of the job description – and he compared it to another spot that is the most talked about position in Columbus.
"Think about being the starting quarterback for the football team," Myers said. "Everybody understands that around here. When you play goalie, it's a similar role. You're coordinating everybody in front of you. The ability of doing your job but also leading those guys in front of you, recognizing sets, recognizing how to create shots you want to see that you know you can save and how to communicate that and push buttons."
The Buckeyes were 6-9 in 2024, and Fyock had a 51.7% save percentage in 14 games. Fyock did not start in the opener against Utah – a 19-13 loss to Utah that cast some doubt on the Buckeyes' outlook for 2025. He re-took the starting job, however, and Ohio State has lost just one game since – a 13-8 loss to Maryland on April 12. What was the key to the turn around?
"Block out all the media," Fyock said. "Block out all the noise. I know we were the joke of college lacrosse for those three weeks after. We didn't really care. We knew what we had in the locker room."
On April 19, Ohio State traveled to Michigan with the Big Ten regular-season championship on the line.
Ohio State Athletics
Fyock helped OSU beat Michigan for Big Ten title
Was this just like football? Michigan wore their all-white uniforms. Ohio State had their scarlet jerseys and gray helmets, and the April 19 matchup was tied at 1-1 after one quarter in a smash-mouth lacrosse game. Yes, they have those, too.
The Wolverines took an 8-5 lead with 12:01 remaining.
"That post-goal huddle after the eighth goal they scored, no one is freaking out," Van Buren said. "No one is upset. This is what we need to do on the next play. I truly believe that's why we were able to pull out that win."
Fyock did issue a mandate, however.
"It was just, 'Keep getting stops,'" Fyock said. "We knew our offense was going to click sooner or later, so we just made a promise to ourselves – our whole team – that it's going to stay at eight. The score was going to stay at eight, and it's not going to move."
The Buckeyes rallied with five unanswered goals – the first coming from Gannon Matthews with 5:23 remaining in the game. That was when Myers saw the energy shift. Michigan managed just six shots in the final 12 minutes – and Fyock had two saves – including the final one with 20 seconds left. Ohio State won 10-8.
The Buckeyes had their first ever Big Ten regular-season championship. Fyock finished with 12 saves – a 60% percentage that tracks with his season-long performance. Myers threw his hands in the air in the final seconds.
"Easter, 2025, will be one we hold on to for a long time," Myers said. "You talk about a 'forever game,' and that's one that we'll tell our kids, grandkids and Buckeyes about for a long time, but a lot of effort went into that moment. We had three competitive goals for the regular season and they were all attained."
Lacrosse has Big Ten traditions, too. The players get Golden Buckeyes for beating the Wolverines. Ohio State won the Creator's Trophy by sweeping Penn State and Michigan. The Buckeyes also won the Big Ten championship. That led to a memorable bus ride home from Ann Arbor to Columbus down U.S. Route 23.
"Everyone had a smile on their face playing music on the bus,” Van Buren said. “We had a big speaker in the middle. It's just awesome to get that feeling. You can't replicate that feeling any other way. That's a feeling that no one on this team has had. It was a never-forget moment, and we are hungry for more."
The impact of Ohio State's lacrosse rise in Midwest
Van Buren appreciates that championship. He points to what used to be a grass field where the Buckeyes held practice when he arrived and credits the alumni for helping for the push for a new stadium.
Myers took over at Ohio State in 2009. The Buckeyes made a run to the NCAA national championship game in 2017 – but he still remembered missed opportunities to win the Big Ten championship after Big Ten lacrosse started in 2015.
"That was the year we played Maryland before the (football) spring game and lost in overtime which would have won the Big Ten championship in Year 1," Myers said. "Then in 2017 we lost in overtime to Rutgers, which would have won it that year. That feeling of being so close to more than one and not attaining it, it was a feeling that, 'Hey man, we were able to get over the hump this time and close.'"
The Buckeyes now will look to keep that momentum going in the Big Ten tournament. The NCAA men's lacrosse tournament has 17 teams and nine automatic bids, so Ohio State is not quite a lock yet heading into the Rutgers game with an RPI of No. 8 entering the tournament.
If the Buckeyes do get in, however, "Big Tasty" will be at the forefront. Notre Dame goalie Liam Entenmann was the Most Outstanding Player in 2023 and helped lead the Irish to national championships the past two seasons. Maryland's Logan McNaney was the Most Outstanding Player in 2022 and is a senior for the Terps this season. Fyock knows the importance of the sport in his home-state Maryland, and he is seeing the growth in the heart of Big Ten country.
Ironically, he could be a reason why that shift continues.
"Hanging that banner up in our stadium for the first time it kind of shows – it's not just traditional East Coast," Fyock said. "It's moving out west and becoming a midwest sport. If we can get these kids who are developing as lacrosse players since years past – these great players – kids want to stay home. They see multiple banners hung in their home state, they're going to want to stay home."
English (US)