Yeomen can't beat the odds

At time of press, no mortal is able to jump over buildings in a single bound, to move faster than a speeding bullet, or to stop a locomotive. There are simply some feats which are too great to overcome.

The Oberlin College men's soccer team faced such a seemingly insurmountable situation this week. After losing in a hard fought game against Hiram a week ago, they faced two of the top teams in the conference when they played Earlham on Saturday and Ohio Wesleyan on Tuesday. The Yeomen were unable to gain a win in either game, losing 3-0 on Saturday and 7-0 on Tuesday. Unfortunately, these losses drop their record to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

Oberlin went to Earlham with a specific game plan and aimed to use it to beat the tenth ranked team in the nation. However, the team didn't stick to their plan and allowed Earlham to dictate the play of the game. When Oberlin had two defensive breakdowns in the first half, the Quakers capitalized on both and scored twice. The Yeomen adapted at the break and played much better in the second half, allowing only one more goal.

"We need to be able to better change things [when] we are in the middle of the game," said Head Coach Blake New. Beyond the troubles with their game plan and adapting, Oberlin had to deal with the loss of three starters. Senior forward Jon Wilson and junior defender Stephen Menyhart were both out with injuries. Junior keeper Caleb Stokes was regrettably out of state attending a funeral.

Sophomore midfielder Alex Maly filled in for Stokes. "He kept us in the game with five or six really big saves," said New. Unfortunately, the team could not get their offense in gear to avoid the shutout.

The team had similar problems against Ohio Wesleyan, the defending national champions. Although Stokes was back, Wilson and Menyhart remained on the bench. The Yeomen again had trouble sticking to the game plan they had worked on. "Again we had designed a way to play and we didn't do it," said New.

Oberlin went out on the field trying to force the Battling Bishops to the sidelines, hoping to prevent them from controlling the play in the middle. They were not successful, however, as Ohio Wesleyan's first three goals came from the middle of the field. The Yeomen again made changes at the half, moving senior midfielder Zach Fine to the sweeper position to allow their attack to start from the back. New felt that scouting reports on OWU indicated that this was the best way to attack.

The change allowed Oberlin to pick up the play for about 20 minutes at the beginning of the second half. It was not enough, however, and Ohio Wesleyan was able to score four more goals.

"I think going Hiram, Earlham, and Wesleyan back to back to back is a very difficult task," said New. "We've opened with the toughest part of the schedule." The Yeomen were unable to beat these daunting opponents, but it was not for lack of effort or spirit. Certainly their spirit was visible, especially in senior defender Chris Nytch and sophomore defender Abe Jaffe, who both got mohawks for the game against Earlham.

"The two games we just played are the hardest games of the year," said Jaffe. "It's important that we don't get down, and it's important to remember that we can still have a great season."

"We're full of hope," echoed Fine. "We have our hardest games behind us. We could still have the best season ever." Indeed the future is already looking good for the Yeomen. This weekend they play two home games, and Wilson, last years leading scorer, will hopefully be healthy enough to return from a six game absence.

Regardless of whom they have on the field, 90 percent of this game remains mental. "We need to believe that we can win," said senior forward Jabali Sawicki. "Not fear teams that have beat us in the past."

The team faces Theil today at 4 p.m. on the Athletic Fields. On Saturday, they will play again at home in their next conference match against Wabash at 2:30 p.m.