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by Flannery Cerbin '09
September 12, 2006 -- The Oberlin College field hockey team rallied together this afternoon in cold and drizzly weather to earn its first North Coast Athletic Conference victory of the season. With the 2-1 win over visiting Ohio Wesleyan University, the Yeowomen improved to 3-1 and 1-0 in the NCAC. The Battling Bishops slipped to 1-2 with the defeat.
Oberlin struck first today after senior co-captain Claire Cheney dug deep from the middle and scored an unassisted goal 24:12 minutes into the first half. Ohio Wesleyan responded quickly with a goal by Abbey Kelley just a minute later, but the game wouldn't remain tied for long. With just under five minutes left in the first half, Oberlin's second and final goal of the day came on a crisp cross from junior Ashley Allen to junior Christine Politis, who swiftly shot a bullet deep from the edge of the circle into the back of the cage.
The Yeowomen continued to move the ball well in the second half, resulting in a number of quality shot attempts against Ohio Wesleyan goalkeeper Kate Jones. Oberlin held off seven penalty corners by the Bishops in the final period, including two as time expired.
Notable performances for the Yeowomen included first-year Maddie Fierstein, who had an outstanding defensive save, and Allen, who tallied a team-best six shots and led Oberlin's passing attack throughout the contest. Five different Yeowomen had four shot attempts as the hosts out-shot Ohio Wesleyan 27-16. Junior goalkeeper Lauren Malinowski also registered nine saves for the Yeowomen.
Said sophomore Holly Sloofman, “We played a nice passing game in the second half. Next time we need to play even more of a passing game.”
A constant focus on improvement is what led the team to such a stellar season last year. “Today was a great win, but it was a hard win because we didn’t stick to the game plan," Head Coach Deb Ranieri said.
The OC field hockey squad's next game is at home against Denison University on September 16 at 12:00 p.m.
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