Putting on the Pressure: Oberlin forwards Leslie Mills and Mei-lin Ha charge the ball and the keeper.

Saturday’s game against Westminster College started off with an offensive push by first-year Hayley Leddington and sophomores Sam Schongalla and Meghan Schott. However Westminster quickly recovered and dribbled away with the ball and the lead for a 3-0 victory.

Senior Leah Fredrickson and sophomore Kym Buzdygon held the defensive line with good communication and aggressive attacks. Nonetheless, Westminster’s forward line drove the ball past, giving first-year goalkeeper Leigh Wilson a tough shot and an impressive save.

Following the save sophomore Mei Lin Ha set up a beautiful cross field pass to first-year Leslie Mills, who just barely missed the goal. Schongalla continued the offensive drive with multiple breakaways up the field, one of which ended in a high cross to sophomore Anna Beeke.

However, Westminster’s defense immediately cleared the loose ball and initiated their own offensive attack. An offside call by the referee put an end to this potentially dangerous breakaway.

The first half came to a close with the score tied at 0-0 and the Yeowomen trying to keep up the intensity that they brought to the first half. “In the first half we really created some impressive chances for ourselves,” said Head Coach Andy Nelson.

In the second half this same intensity proved difficult to maintain. The Yeowomen began to falter and Westminster took control of the game. Nelson subbed senior goalkeeper Alison Palmer for Wilson minutes after the second half began. Palmer immediately made a contribution to the game with a nice left dive. A foul on Beeke offered her a shot.

Senior Ellie Fitzpatrick picked up the rebound and drove towards the goal only to be shut down by the left defense. Sixty-seven minutes into the game a high right shot by Westminster’s Scarlett Bretz was almost knocked over the cross bar by Palmer; however, the shot just managed to slip in. With this blow the Yeowomen lost morale and Westminster immediately drove towards the goal again.

This time Palmer had a well-timed left dive for an excellent save. 73 minutes into the game another low shot slid by the outstretched hands of Palmer. Oberlin’s defense played tough, but they could not keep up with Westminster’s offense. Schott and junior Laurie Stein both had great defensive plays and Palmer had many more tough saves.

With only 10 minutes left Westminster’s Laura Vollmer scored the final goal of the game, securing Westminster’s victory of 3-0. Reflecting on the end of the game, “It was really tough for the team to have played so hard in the first half only to lose that concentration in the second half,” Nelson said.

Tuesday’s away game at Washington and Jefferson brought another tough loss with a final score of 5-1. Schongalla scored Oberlin’s only goal in the first half, bringing the Yeowomen to an early lead. The team could not keep Washington and Jefferson from retaliating and scoring a goal quickly after.

“The girls played very tough in the first half and on into the second half, they just could not muster the strength necessary to pull ahead,” Nelson said. The first half was a well-played half, with both teams giving their all. Neither team could seem to keep control of the ball, so the score going into the second half was 1-1. However, the Yeowomen could not hold on to this tie for long and Washington and Jefferson scored four goals in the second half.

“It was really just simply a lack of communication,” Wilson said. As hard as the Yeowomen tried they simply could not seem to achieve the offensive drive necessary to score another goal for the rest of the game. “We played well together we just weren’t playing at the same skill level as we’ve exhibited before,” said Wilson.