Kenyon win is icing on the cake

Sunday was a glorious day for dedicated Oberlin sports fans and for the Oberlin Ice Hockey team as the Yeomen took on Kenyon College and gave the Lords a sound thrashing.

On Sunday, skills and teamwork came together for a crushing victory. Oberlin was fast and fluid - passing with tremendous accuracy, gaining possession consistently and shooting and scoring regularly.

Jon Gonnelli, a college first-year said, "I thought it was a great game. It was really fun. We went ready to play. We took it to them to show them who was going to win."

In the first period, the Yeomen dominated, outscoring the Lords 4-1. Both teams were scoreless for the first five minutes of the game but the action rarely left the Yeomen's offensive end. Oberlin popped one in at the eight-minute mark and nabbed a second goal just minutes later.

Oberlin's goalie, sophomore Nick Bicknell, a transfer from West Point, could have spent most of the first half taking a nap, considering the amount of action the Oberlin defense allowed at Bicknell's end of the floor. A burly #20 for Kenyon finally retaliated in an attempt to keep the match from being entirely lopsided. He escorted the puck the entire length of the rink and made a beeline for the goal. Bicknell valiantly went for the save, but the puck slipped though.

The Yeomen fought back, more than making up for the Lords' drive, scoring twice in less then a minute as the first period closed.

Both teams picked it up a notch and came out fighting in the second period. The Lords attempted to use their bodies as road blocks and madly swinging their sticks at anything that moved. The added effort only seemed to encourage Oberlin who scored three times in under two minutes.

Fans, cooking hot-dogs on the sidelines, cheered on every demonstration of violence, whooping and pounding the glass that separated fans from players. No major amount of blood was shed and the only casualty came when an Oberlin player destroyed one of the Lords' sticks.

In the third period, Oberlin and Kenyon scored two each, ending the match with a final triumphant score of 9-3. Gonnelli led the team with five goals, senior Jon Theodore followed with two, and junior Seth Hosmer and Jon Berkavitch each added one. The Plague has now reversed its losing streak and improved its record to 1-2.

It seems that part of the reason behind the Plague's success is the relaxed attitude they have towards the game. Games have been canceled on account of ice, and games have been postponed. As a result, the team hasn't had a game for over 10 weeks, but it didn't seem to affect their team work spirit at all.

The team includes members from the local community as well as college students. Gonnelli said, "Sometimes we have one townie dude - he didn't make it to the last game. He's pretty old, like 50 or something. Last year Kenyon had one too."

The Plague has high expectations. Gonnelli said, "Our goal as a team is eventual world domination. Our win Sunday was just the first step on the ladder."