First-year Skyler Dum battles for a loose ball with Denison's Ben Sopp during tonight's NCAC contest in Granville

Photo by Zach Pretzer

November 1, 2006 -- The Oberlin College men’s soccer team’s season came to a close this evening in a hard-fought North Coast Athletic Conference playoff match at Denison University. The Yeomen, who reached the NCAC semi-finals by going 5-2-2 in conference play this season, were edged by host Denison 0-2 in Granville, Ohio. With the loss, Oberlin ends the 2006 campaign at 8-5-5 overall, while the Big Red improved to 11-4-2 overall and will advance to the NCAC finals against Allegheny College ( Pa.) on Saturday.

Head Coach Blake New’s Yeomen played Denison evenly in the first half, as Oberlin tallied three shots and the hosts compiled five. In his last game for the Yeomen, Granville native Clayton Combe saved two shots in the first period, while his Denison counterpart, Kevin Donahue, also had a pair of saves in the opener. With neither team able to rack up a score in the first 45 minutes of action, the score remained tied at 0-0 heading into the intermission.

Denison’s scoring drought would only last for several minutes in the second half, though, as Greg Pecora knocked in a header off a corner kick from Sam Johnson to go ahead 1-0 48:30 into the match. Seven minutes later, Brad Toth blasted a cross off an Oberlin player that bounced into the net to give the Big Red a 2-0 lead. The Yeomen had just as many shots as Denison in the second (nine for both squads), but weren't able to convert on two corner kicks and a few other shots on goal.

"Our effort tonight was fantastic," New said. "We had a little trouble with the playing surface and our finishing wasn't fantastic, but it really just came down to a few mistakes."

With eight wins, including a few key conference victories and a second-consecutive NCAC playoff appearance, the Yeomen conclude another solid season.

Said New, "It was a good season and this team is really a wonderful group of guys. We have a great team ethos, the players worked hard for each other, and I hate to see it end."

For the year, Oberlin was led in scoring by junior Sam Zackheim and senior tri-captain Zachary Tesler. Zackheim notched seven goals and passed for one assist, while Tesler racked up six scores and a team-best two game-winners. Senior tri-captain Clayton Combe was masterful in goal this for the Yeomen, registering seven shutouts, picking up eight wins, and saving 69 shots in 1,659 minutes work.

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