Men’s
Soccer Team Has Mixed Results
By Sehban Zaidi There
were mixed results for the Oberlin College men’s soccer team
this week. On Saturday the Yeomen secured their second overtime
win of the season by beating Muskingum College, 2-1, away. Oberlin
couldn’t repeat the victory at home on Wednesday, though,
losing to John Carroll University 2-0.
“We learned on Saturday that executing our tactical plan leads
to success,” senior Luke Eisenhauer said.
The Yeomen’s tactical plan helped them come from behind to
win a game for the first time this season. Having gone a goal down
to Muskingum, Oberlin battled back with a late goal from first-year
David Wilson — who has now tallied four goals for the season
— to send the game into overtime. Senior Richard Braithwaite
settled the thriller in over time with his seventh goal of an increasingly
fruitful season.
“The Muskingum game should have been 4-1, we missed a lot
of easy chances,” head coach Blake New said.
The Saturday away victory was followed by a loss at home to John
Carroll University. The loss left the yeomen with a 5-3-1 record
for the year. John Carroll scored in the 30th minute when first-year
goalkeeper Lincoln Smith failed to keep out a solid shot on goal.
With the exception of that mistake, Smith had a solid game making
seven saves, three of which were off breakaways.
“After watching the tape of the [John Carroll] game I am very
pleased with our defensive organization,” New said.
Sophomore Jamie Davis and Eisenhauer both made goal line clearances
to keep the John Carroll attack in check.
“There were a few short periods of time that we didn’t
put the work in energy-wise against [John Carroll], which allowed
them to play well timed balls to well timed runs, but even in those
periods our ‘D’ never allowed them to look too dangerous.
[First-year] Evan [Childress] showed he can eat it up at left back
if we need him there,” Braithwaite said.
Oberlin kept attacking even after John Carroll’s second goal
and created a number of chances that they couldn’t finish.
“I think the only real problems that we are having right now
are our combination play in the final third and our finishing ability.
Tactically, we are doing the things both defensively and offensively
that I want them to be doing but it breaks down in the final third,”
New said. “I feel good about where we are going in to conference
play but we must be willing to take risks and get numbers forward
to be successful.”
The Yeomen Host Capitol University tomorrow at 1 p.m. and on Tuesday
they have their first conference game against Denison University
at 4:30 p.m.
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