Field Hockey 1-2 Over Break

Play Ball: Senior Annabeth Macy goes on the offensive. (photo by Brian Hodgkin)

Three days after Fall Break began for the rest of Oberlin, the dedicated members of the field hockey team were still on campus. More specifically, they were on the field running the visiting Haverford team out of Lorain County. On Monday, Oct. 16, the Yeowomen defeated Haverford 4-3.

"When we get psyched and start to play our game there is really no stopping us." senior B. Chatfield said. Ten minutes into the match, junior Chaney Stewman went on a solo mission through the defense and dropped one in Haverford's nets. Five minutes later, junior Jenny Lusk-Yablick found senior Annabeth Macy with a crisp pass that Macy stroked into the goal.

Oberlin gave Haverford no breathing room, as they shut down all of their offensive attempts and passing through the Yeowomen's strong defense. Lusk-Yablick repeated her effort with another assist to junior Emily Johnson, who put in the score. Stewman followed this goal by scoring one of her own, her second of the game. Haverford was able to add a goal on a broken play with about eight minutes remaining in the first half. Oberlin went into halftime leading Haverford 4-1.

The second half brought two more goals from Haverford, but Oberlin managed to hold on to the lead for the victory, 4-3. "We played a great game, but we had trouble keeping it going when we were leading by so much." Chatfield added.

Three days after beating up on Haverford, Oberlin faced an away match with Nazareth College. In the first half, Nazareth scored twice and Oberlin was unable to get anything firing on offense. However, the defense played very well despite the two scores. In the second half, Macy scored with about 18 minutes left to play. The Yeowomen were unable to produce a second goal. The game ended with Nazareth holding two goals to Oberlin's one.

Two days after falling to Nazareth by one point, Oberlin met with an extremely determined and powerful Wooster team, and fell to the Fighting Scots 1-0.

"The game was disapointing." Lusk-Yablick said.

The game was a fusion of abundant defensive prowess and just overall great play by Oberlin. Pam Walker, Oberlin's junior goalkeeper, racked up a stunning 18 saves in the match. Neither squad was able to get the ball in the net until Wooster managed to score with 14 minutes remaining in overtime, ending the game at 1-0 in favor of Wooster.

"Wooster was our best loss ever, maybe just our best game period. You can't do much when the other team has someone who can sprint the entire field during overtime and score a goal," Chatfield said. "It was apparent that Wooster had not anticipated such a tenacious OC team.

"We had trouble pysching ourselves up all year, but we clicked and exploded against Wooster," Chatfield added.

Despite the loss, Oberlin played an excellent game and just didn't manage to finish on top.

In what was the final game of Oberlin's regular season, the ladies brought out their sticks, game faces, hearts, minds and confidence in a 3-1 victory over Kenyon College. The first half started when junior Emily Johnson fired a shot into the net of Kenyon. The dominating Oberlin team continued to play a confident and overpowering game throughout the entirety of the first half. The Yeowomen allowed one Kenyon goal before the half was over, making it all even at 1-1 going into halftime.

The second half revealed Oberlin's raw skill. Sophomore Briana Quinn scored her second goal with 28 minutes remaining in regulation play. With 17 minutes left to play, Johnson added another goal to Oberlin's tally and her 12th of the season making it 3-1 in Oberlin's favor. The game came to a close finish with the Yeowomen still on top, 3-1.

"This is the best team I have ever been on," Lusk-Yablick said. "It is hard for me to believe that we can lose. The game was fun, we play better when we are confident, and we walked onto the field knowing that we were going to win," she added.

The regular season ended on a very positive note, with Oberlin's record standing at 7-9 and 5-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Oberlin plays in the Great Lakes Regional Tournament at Rhodes this weekend, and if they can win both games they will hit the .500 mark on the season, which would stand as their best record since 1994.