Men’s Soccer Falls to Denison
by Benjamin Pred

The men’s soccer team was defeated last Tuesday night in a loss at Denison’s Barclay-Thomson Field, by a score of 5-2. The loss was especially hard to take because this was the Yeomen’s first official game in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) this season.
Denison is now 2-0 in NCAC play, with a 5-3 record on the year. Justin Stone scored the first goal for the Denison Big Red 10 minutes into the game off an assist by Chad Hubor. Very late in the half, senior Rich Braithwaite, who leads the team in shots (16) and goals (4), scored the first of Oberlin’s two points in the 42nd minute of play on a breakaway.
The Yeomen left the field after playing a solid half with the score knotted at one. In the second half, things started to get a little more ugly for the Yeomen. Denison scored three rapid-fire goals in seven minutes, two by Hubor and one by Scott Vallee, making the score 4-1 Denison.
Oberlin never fully recovered from this machine-gun barrage, but the Yeomen showed a few scattered attempts at resistance. In the 70th minute, junior Will Singer scored a header goal for Oberlin off an assist by Sam Kaplan, but it was more of a dying gasp for air than a real turnaround, and Denison’s Vallee came back with another goal five minutes later bringing the score to what would be the final, 5-2.
“We just didn’t stick to our game plan in the second half. I don’t know if we got scared or what, but we just
didn’t have focus,” Head Coach Blake New said.
Though the final score was bad, the team statistics from the game tell a scary bedtime story for the Yeomen: Denison out-shot Oberlin 15 to six. Denison also had ten corner kicks, while Oberlin had only three. Oberlin junior goalie Simon Spaid had an outstanding first half in goal and made six saves, but nevertheless allowed five goals in 90 minutes of play.
“There were moments in the game where we looked good as a team, but they were few and far between. Essentially, we played soft and they didn’t,” New said.
If Oberlin hopes to improve upon their performance thus far this season, they are going to have to bear down and focus as a team. Denison was not a superior team talent-wise, but the Yeomen were out-hustled.
Said Braithwaite, “I know I didn’t leave my bones and blood and sweat all out on the field. Saturday we will come out to play against OWU (Ohio Wesleyan University) — believe me.”