A team that had to resort to postering to fill its roster at the beginning of the season is now on its way to the NCAC tournament. The Oberlin College field hockey team finished fourth in the conference with a record of 8-5 and 11-5 overall led by first year head coach Deb Ranieri.
“We have a great team. Everybody on the team is on the same page,” Ranieri said. “They know when to work hard and they also know when to have a good time. They all want to play well. They want to win. They’re a great group. It’s easy when they’re all on the same page.”
The Yeowomen may be blessed with near-magical chemistry, but their success is also due in part to a lot of hard work. Over the past three weeks they have played seven games racking up five wins against Ohio Wesleyan University, Depauw University, Hanover College, Earlham College and Transylvania University and falling only to the College of Wooster and Wittenberg Unversity.
The team ended the regular season on a high note with a four game winning streak. Three of those games were shutouts by first-year goalie Siv Tang who, despite being in goal for the first time this year, has been a consistent strong point in Oberlin’s defensive game. Tang, who has not missed a single minute of play, has registered nine shutouts in 16 games.
“Siv’s advantage is that she uses her stick well because she used to be a field player,” Ranieri said. “Most goalies don’t know how to use their stick and it just winds up being part of their equipment where as Siv really understands how to use her stick and it just becomes natural for her.”
The Yeowomen have their share of offensive weapons as well. Senior Chaney Stewman is leading the team with 10 goals and nine assists which ranks her second in the conference behind only Wittenberg’s Emily Duh. Oberlin’s offense is also benefited by the prowess of first-year Meg Reitz who has racked up nine goals and one assist placing her fifth in the ranking.
The team will look to continue their winning streak as they travel to Wittenberg for the semi-final game of the first ever conference tournament. Wittenberg finished in first place with a conference record of 10-2. Denison and Wooster finished second and third respectively with identical conference records of 9-3 and will play the other semi-final games as they finished second and third, respectively.
Oberlin has met Wittenberg twice this season losing both games by a margin of one goal: 1-0 at home and then 3-2 in overtime at Wittenberg.

“We have to score goals. We have to get into the attacking end,” Ranieri said. “The last time when we played Wittenberg away on turf we got into the attacking end for only for five shots and in those five shots we scored two goals. As long we get into the attacking 25, and get into the circle and get corners I’m really confident we can score goals.”

The Yeowomen may be running strong, but there are several factors that make Wittenberg a formidable challenge. They won both the meetings this season. They not only have the leading scorer in the conference but their goalie also has the highest save percentage. Oberlin will have to travel Wittenberg and play on turf, which has caused them problems in the past.
“From my experience playing on turf, the important thing to do is have a strong passing game. That’s what we need to do, and if we can do that we can beat any other team on turf,” first-year Becky Schugar said.
If the Yeowomen can overcome Wittenberg, they will have a week off before they will play the winner of the other semi-final.
“We’re shooting for three more games, that’s our goal,” Ranieri said. “Three games will get us to the NCAA tournament.”