Field
Hockey Shines in 4-0 Defeat of Kenyon
by Liz Logan
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Crushing
Defeat : Two Yeowomen converge on Kenyon defenders in
Oberlin's 4-0 victory. (photo by Marc Penalver Aguila)
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Oberlins
field hockey team is back on its feet after defeating Kenyon College
on Saturday. Suffering recent close losses to Denison, Wittenberg
and Ohio Wesleyan, the Yeowomen knew their mission for the Kenyon
game: to pull together into the aggressive, fluid whole that seemed
to be only a distant memory like their victories against Transylvania
and Earlham at the seasons commencement. But they succeeded,
coming back full force to crush Kenyon with a final score of 4-0.
We were back on our game, senior goalkeeper Pam Walker
said of the Kenyon victory. We were psyched to finally be
back on our own turf with all our parents watching there
were lots of fans and that always helps. Two goals were scored
in the first half by senior team captain Emily Johnson with an assist
by junior Briana Quinn. In the second half, sophomore Sung-Mun Choi
scored the teams third and fourth goals, with assists on both
goals by junior Chaney Stewman.
The Yeowomen clearly dominated the game against Kenyon. Oberlins
20 shots on goal completely overshadowed Kenyons mere nine,
showing the Yeowomen to be the far more aggressive team. We
played really remarkably considering we didnt have any subs
and it was a hot day. Everyone played the whole time while the other
team had lots of subs, Walker said.
We picked up a lot from the Ohio Wesleyan game, said
junior Christina Congleton, who was playing on an ankle sprained
just days before the game. We played much more the way we
want to play we had better ball movement and really took
Kenyon out of their game. We got onto the ball and were aggressive
in getting to the goal.
Coach Liz Graham seconded Congletons praise for the Yeowomens
offensive unit. In the goal circle, we maintained possession
and we got off some good shots. We did significantly better in this
game than we did with Ohio Wesleyan in terms of ball movement. We
moved the ball laterally much more and got out of pressure zones.
There was a lot of good communication, Walker said,
people who are usually quiet were communicating.
We were good at keeping up the pressure we didnt
give their team any sense of hope, Graham said. They
were struggling, and we did not give them a chance to get their
act together.
The Kenyon game was a showcase for the Yeowomens defensive
strength as well as offensive aggression. Defense did really
well running through balls, Congelton said. There were
a lot of 50/50 shots where the ball was in between us and Kenyon,
free for either team to pick up and we got there faster. First-year
Jaime Johnson did a great job in particular I was injured,
so she played back and was all over the field. She was very flexible
and that worked well.
Brie [Quinn] plucked a ball off the end line and saved a goal,
Graham said. Both goalkeepers had good saves too.
Though the Yeowomen have struggled for the past few games, the North
Coast Athletic Conference statistics reveal Oberlin to have some
of the strongest players. Midfielder Emily Johnson has scored 14
goals this season, making her the leading scorer in the conference.
Just behind Johnson are other Yeowomen all-star scorers Choi
at fourth in the conference, and Stewman at seventh. Defensively,
the number two goalie in the conference is senior Pam Walker, who
has blocked 88.5 percent of the goals shot on the Oberlin cage.
Overall, the team is in fourth place in the conference, with only
their toughest rivals Wittenberg, Wooster and Denison ahead of them
in the number one, two and three spots.
Even though the team lost to Ohio Wesleyan, they are still one place
ahead of them in the conference.
Though Kenyon is in last place in the NCAC conference, Congleton
believes her teams showing was still outstanding. Kenyon
isnt a top team, Congleton said, but theyre
driven. We succeeded in coming out there strong, being aggressive,
and moving to the ball which knocks out the other teams confidence.
We would like to do that with every team we play; we want to take
them by surprise with our strength.
Kenyon wasnt any harder of a team to beat than Ohio
Wesleyan I mean, theyre no Denison or Wittenberg
but this time we pulled it together as a team, Walker said.
[Kenyon] made us work hard. I was impressed by their level
of play they fought.
We always take every team seriously, Congleton said.
[Coach Graham] talked to us the night before and told us to
be prepared for Kenyon. She said they are the type of team that
will either get nervous and let go or fight to the bitter end. We
prepared for their strengths and their weaknesses.
Because the Yeowomen have been so evenly matched with many teams
in the conference, its hard to guage where the team will go
from here. Its kind of up and down until weve
played every team. This week could really help our standing,
Walker said. We need to remember how we played [in this past
game] and go with it. Were evenly matched with all the teams
in the conference this year, which is really great. In past years
weve been ranked in the middle, but now were in the
top four.
It wasnt our best game, Graham said, but
overall people played well. It was a much better game than last
weeks and its good to see that turnaround. This coming
week will determine a lot the next three games are critical.
We are especially concerned about our ability to rebound against
Ohio Wesleyan on Thursday. After that we have important conference
games against Denison and Wittenberg. We should be able to beat
[the Tigers]. The next week and a half will make or break our season.
We need to focus on and improve a few things, but were playing
fairly well. Communication is still not where it needs to be. There
are some people who kind of shut up sometimes and they shouldnt
do that.
The
win against Kenyon has put a spring back in the Yeowomens
step, and they are enthusiastic about the challenges ahead. Were
really excited for the games we have coming up, Congleton
said. Were angry at ourselves that we lost to Ohio Wesleyan,
but were looking forward to stepping up and showing them everything
weve got on Thursday. Weve got a game almost every other
day for the next two weeks its going to be intense
hockey, but were hoping to rack up lots of points.
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