Men's Lax Splits Non-conference Games

The men's lacrosse team started the week slowly but rebounded fantastically in the second game of the season. A disappointing second half of the first game against a strong St. Vincent College team demonstrated the inexperience of the OC team, but the second game, against Marietta College, revealed a glimpse of the team's promising future. On Saturday, St. Vincent soundly defeated the Yeomen by a score of 18-3. The team responded Wednesday and dispatched Marietta 18-9.

En guard! O.C. was sent reeling by St. Vincent last Saturday, but responded to beat Marietta 18-9. (photo by Brian Hodgkin)

The debut game for the OC lacrosse team was held on a frigid Saturday afternoon at Dill Field. The Bearcats of St. Vincent, lead by Head Coach Peter Tulk, entered the contest with a deceptive 0-2 record, having held their own against formidable Denison University in a previous match.

The Yeomen struck first with two goals by sophomore Dave Rooklin. The lead did not last, though. The Bearcats fought back, scoring four goals before the horn sounded at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was a defensive battle, though the ball remained in the Yeomen's end for most of the period. The only scoring was a Bearcat goal with 20 seconds left in the half.

The second half began with poor shot selection by the Yeomen offense and a general inability to pick up ground balls. The Cats scored six goals in the quarter, effectively slamming the door on OC's hopes of a comeback.

The Yeomen did not fare much better in the fourth quarter, as St. Vincent outscored Oberlin seven to one.

The Yeomen had a difficult time controlling the ball the whole game, and to make matters worse, they weren't patient and took quick shots. This allowed St. Vincent to set up fast breaks and make quick runs. The two most telling stats are the shot differential and ground balls. The Bearcats took 71 shots to Oberlin's 16, and they picked up 53 ground balls to the Yeomen's 29.

"Lacrosse is a simple game. If you can't get the ball off the ground, then you can't win games," said Head Coach Jim Donavan. "We needed to control the ball on offense, but we took too many quick shots." Sophomore goalie Dave Smolev played a good game but was bombarded with too many shots. Another disturbing stat was that there were no assists on the three goals. First-year Matt Iorio added Oberlin's third goal.

The Marietta College Pioneers, led by Head Coach Doug Carl, entered Wednesday's action with a record of 0-1. They are in the midst of rebuilding a once-successful program, pitting themselves against Division II and quality Division III opponents. Oberlin was the first of several NCAC teams the Pioneers will play, including Wooster and Kenyon.

Marietta started the scoring, but Oberlin turned the tide by scoring five goals in the last 12 minutes of the first quarter. The Yeomen extended their lead by scoring four more goals in the second quarter, though the Pioneers stayed in the game by scoring two of their own. Unlike the first game, Oberlin dominated the third quarter by scoring six goals while shutting out Marietta. In the fourth quarter, the Yeomen extended their lead to 18-4 before Marietta made a 5-0 run in the final seven minutes.

The team looked like a completely different unit against Marietta. "We've worked hard in practice and we hope to get better every day. It's important to spend as much time as possible on the field together," said Coach Donovan. They picked up ground balls much more effectively, the defense was tight throughout the game and the offensive passing was crisp. All but two of the goals were unassisted.

Smolev had another fantastic game in net, assisted by an aggressive defense led by senior captain Andrew Kim. The stars of the game were first-year Eric Vachon, who scored seven goals, Rooklin, who scored four goals and assisted on two others while playing attack and midfield, and first-year Matt Iorio, who assisted on four goals. The Yeomen escaped both games with no serious injuries.

The Yeomen open their conference schedule at Wittenberg University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., followed by Kenyon College Wednesday at 4 p.m.