The Oberlin College women’s soccer team added two wins and a loss to their record this past week in games against Cedarville University, Olivet College and Ursuline College, improving to 4-3. The team built upon a 1-1 weekend by shutting out Ursuline on Wednesday in a 4-0 run, while playing without its leading goal-scorer, senior Courtney Stackhouse.
After losing to Cedarville, 2-0, last Saturday, the Yeowomen rebounded to defeat Olivet, 2-1, on Sunday. Unfortunately, Stackhouse suffered a leg injury when an opposing player ran into her, shortly after she had scored the game-winning goal. Stackhouse will miss the next few games.
But the team didn’t miss a beat against Ursuline on Wednesday. Three Yeowoman players combined to score four goals in the shutout, as the team posted back-to-back wins.
“Ursuline was very aggressive. We were more skilled and just an all around better team,” head coach Jane Wildman said.
Early in the first half, junior Mara Brecht scored and then assisted junior Tessa Stevens in a goal a minute and a half later. In the second half, Stevens scored on her own with 27:46 on the clock, and sophomore Ellie Fitzpatrick scored the final goal with 7:00 left.
“It was nice to get scoring opportunities from the midfield,” sophomore Leah Fredrickson said.
“We were pretty aggressive,” Stevens said. “We were in control of the ball, so we forced them to play our game.”
The Sunday win against Olivet helped to give the team confidence for the Ursuline game. In the close game, Olivet scored the first goal early in the half, but with 8:09 left junior Sarah Kipp responded to tie the game going into halftime. Stackhouse scored her game-winner with 23:24 remaining in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Alison Palmer helped the team with seven saves.
“Sunday’s game had a lot to do with team chemistry,” Wildman said. “It was a matter of deciding as a group to play well and just play up to their full potential.”
The team had trouble playing up to its full potential last Saturday against Cedarville. In the 2-0 loss, both of the opponent’s goals were scored in the second half. Palmer had 10 saves in the game. Oberlin took only nine shots, as opposed to Cedarville’s 21.
“We need to work on finishing.” Wildman said. “[In Wednesday’s game] we had 30 shots and only finished four. We also have to start taking advantage of scoring opportunities.”
The Yeowomen’s next game will be at home on the Athletic Fields this Tuesday against Marietta College.