Yeowomen unable to get past Denison

Team hopes to improve upon weknesses before NCACs

Oberlin met conference rival Denison at home this week. Oberlin was defeated in a close game 9-7.

Denison led Oberlin 5-3 in the first half. The Yeowomen tied it up 5-5 but lost 9-7 at the end. It was a tough windy day that made it painful to run south and Denison had brought their own hecklers. "They lost to Ohio Wesleyan," a Denison fan in a cowboy hat and boots yelled.

Sophomore John Shieber replied by asking if he could borrow the Texan's duds for that night's fetish party, leading the man to respond, "Do you need a date?"

"There's no question we could have beaten them," said sophomore Amy Kremen, who racked up a hat trick. She said that Denison's important goals came off of transitions and Oberlin wanted to hold the ball as long as possible in five minute segments. "That's a good strategy, but if you hold the ball and don't score, that's a problem and you lose time off the clock," Kremen said.

Crucial turnovers and bad referee calls also hurt the Yeowomen. One charging call on first-year Kim Allen could easily have gone the other way and probably would have given the team another goal.

Maybe the team needs to take a cue from the Incredible Hulk. The Hulk sits in the Yeowomen's lockerroom, perhaps for inspiration.

During one of their road trips, the women's lacrosse team found themselves out in the middle of nowhere with co-captain junior Kate Williams's mother. While away from the van for a bit, Mrs. Williams found a foot-tall model of the Incredible Hulk and the team appropriated it to add to their lockerroom's already diverse collection of paraphenilia.

Their lair is full of homemade posters and pictures, uneaten candy, a large poster of Harrison Ford, and of course, the Incredible Hulk. The lockerroom is just part of the uniqueness of Oberlin's women's lacrosse team.

"This team is so queer and quirky," Kremen said, "that I just don't pay attention any more."

Head coach Mindy Manolovich said, "I think personality wise they're very diverse. They learn quick. This is one of the best things you can bring to a sports team."

Manolovich still has a bit to teach them though, as they are preparing for the upcoming conference championships. The team will play Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday. OWU is the only other conference team that has defeated the Yeowomen.

Manolovich said "I want to look at the reasons for our losses and turn these weaknesses into strengths, individually and as a team. It all comes down to why we lost." She wants to stop other team's paths to the goal, make more concise passes in the midfield, and score more on the attack.

The team's still confident about the championships and recognize the expectations placed on them. "We haven't worked so hard over the last 82 days just to lose," Manolovich said, "But you either win or lose. You wouldn't have scores if it didn't happen that way."

"We don't have any expectations except to win the championship," Kremen said, "we have such a high level of pride and expectation, and we have so much talent that to not win would mean we weren't stepping up."

Manolovich said, "If there's no doubt that they want to win, they will. They have talent and intelligence, and that combination wins games."

First-year Alia Fink said, "We can beat the team's we lost to, we've got the determination. We're gonna kick ass."

On the offensive:Katherine Williams tries to get the ball to the net. (photo courtesy of Robb Stolberg)