Lessons for field hockey come in a win and a loss

The Yeowomen's NCAC record is 1-1 heading into OWU game

The field hockey's two games in the past week were a 6-0 win and a 7-1 loss, but coach Mindy Manolovich said both games are valuable for the team.

Against Earlham College Saturday, the Yeowomen's offense had a workout. Earlham's offense was only able to get the ball into Oberlin's half of the field a few times.

Oberlin scored six goals, but the defense wasn't in tune for what it would face Tuesday at the College of Wooster, where the Yeowomen's fate was nearly the opposite.

The two games together gave Oberlin a chance to play a complete game. "We had attack work on Earlham and defensive awareness against Wooster," Manolovich said.

In the Earlham game, played on the field hockey practice field because rainstorms, an effect of Hurricane Fran, made Oberlin's sports fields into mud pools, the Yeowomen got goals from four players.

Senior Jessica Resnik and junior Ellen Scott had two apiece. First-year Lydia Ries and sophomore Jesse Robinson each had one.

Scott only played part of last season for the Yeowomen and Resnik didn't play at all.

"I was nervous. You always get nervous for the first game of the season," Resnik said.

At Wooster, the Yeowomen responded to an early Fighting Scotts goal and kept a tie for the first 20 minutes of the game.

Through the rest of the match-up however, Wooster added six unmatched goals, three in each half. Then, "the team's morale just sort of dropped," Resnik said.

Manolovich said that Wooster had more speed, depth and stick skills than the Yeowomen, but that doesn't mean Oberlin is doomed against such teams.

"If you can transfer the mental to the physical, whether the other team is faster or has better stick skills, you can win," Manolovich said.

But, Manolovich said, it's not the case that Oberlin will be outmatched by conference opponents. "The conference schools are pretty well matched," she said.

There have been a handful of overtime games already in NCAC play.

And the early-season shellacking at Wooster could be one of the sparks Oberlin needs.

"You need something like this," Resnik said. "We needed this to show us what we need to work on."

Saturday, Oberlin takes on a quick Ohio Weselyan University team at home. Tuesday, the women travel to Denison.

Eyes on the ball:Junior Jessica Toubman sets up a maneuver in practice. (photo by John Matney)