Lacrosse suffers first NCAC loss

Oberlin whips Wittenberg, Earlham; falls to OSU

Before each game, members of the women's lacrosse team randomly pick the name of another player to be their "psyche buddy." Players give their buddies a candy bar, flowers, a hat or even underwear to "psyche" them up for the coming game. As the team's grueling week wore on, these relaxed moments became more and more welcome.

Last Friday the team traveled to Wittenberg University and easily beat the Tigers 15-4. "Kim Allen was going down the field with the ball," goalie sophomore Alysia Oakley said "and these two players came up and were going to check her between them. She did this great roll and the two players checked themselves."

The next day Oberlin traveled to Earlham College and defeated the Quakers 21-8. This game was a muddy one. "It had a weird consistency," Oakley said. "Most bounce shots went weird and funky."

The Yeowomen are pleased with Oakley, who has made 106 saves this year and compiled a .630 save percentage. It's no easy thing to try and block a ball coming at you at over 60 miles-per-hour. "You have to have the mindset that nothing is going to hurt you," Oakley said. "Playing goalie is such a mental thing."

The team's next two games were both big ones. On Tuesday they played NCAA Division I Ohio State University and lost 8-5. "We could've played better," Oakley said "They had a strong passing game. They would pass it down field and wouldn't commit to either upfield or downfield, while we would commit to one or the other."

On Wednesday the lacrosse team played Ohio Wesleyan University and lost by a surprising 17-6. As Oberlin and Denison University were the only undefeated teams in the NCAC, Ohio Wesleyan really wanted the win and played that way. Oberlin was tired from their long week and couldn't manage even the fundamentals of passing and catching. "We sucked for about an hour," sophomore Katherine Roberts said.

In spite of this, the team is still as confident as ever and is looking forward to the big Saturday home game against undefeated Denison. "Last game threw the team a bit," first-year Jenny Anschel said. "We expected to win. It's good for the team to know its weaknesses. People are not down on the Denison game."

Head coach Mindy Manolovich worked extensively one-on-one with players Thursday, hammering out specific weaknesses and coaching a more aggresive style to the players.

Oakley said, "We're a team that can pull it together when we're down."