Senior Beth Sebian, one of Oberlin’s women’s lacrosse captains, realizes that all her team needs is a little fine-tuning. At Denison University this past Wednesday, Sebian forecasts clear skies, lots of hustling and a strong showing in the following weeks for a team that is continually gaining speed game by game.

“Even though we didn’t score as much today, we took a lot of shots,” commented Sebian. “With some minor tweaking we are going to come out a lot stronger than we ever have in the conference.”

Oberlin lost to Denison in the Yeowomen’s first conference game of the season on April 12, in what would prove to be a valuable learning experience for Oberlin.

“We learned a lot from this game,” said sophomore Devonna Sharp. “It was great making a good team flustered. We were really excited and went out with a lot of passion and intensity, which showed at the end of the first half.”

At halftime Denison had a two-point lead with Oberlin notching six goals and Denison with eight. The other senior captain, Meg Reitz, began the scoring, followed by sophomore Kira Thorien and first-year Dana Rich, who were all able to find the back of the net with one goal each. First-year Leila Hull, this week’s conference player of the week, netted two goals in the first half.

Oberlin fought hard against a strong conference team but was ultimately unable to compete in the second half against Denison’s wealth of players lining the bench. Oberlin only had one sub.

“Denison had twice as many girls as us,” said Sharp. “We were exhausted. We put up a really good fight.”

In the second half, Denison scored nine more goals to conclude with a 17-8 victory over the Yeowomen.

Head Coach Deb Ranieri was not dissatisfied with her team’s performance, saying, “The game was really exciting. We were definitely in it. It really came down to shot placement.”

Oberlin has continually been improving and working on certain aspects of their game. This strong dedication to improvement and focus was demonstrated in their victory over Cazenovia last Saturday, April 8, at the University of Rochester in New York.

Oberlin pulled out a 19-7 victory in what has proved to be one of their most exciting performances yet.

“We are still continuing to work on all parts of the game,” commented Ranieri. “The Cazenovia game was exciting because we put together all the things we have been working on over spring break and the past week.”

Oberlin played smart with strong midfield transitions and tight defense. Rich scored the first goal 12 seconds into the game followed by Hull who knocked in another goal 54 seconds into the game. Oberlin was able to net five goals before Cazenovia was able to weakly answer back with two.

Rich scored a total of four goals for the game followed by sophomore Rose Reid and Hull who both earned hat tricks.

“We have a lot of talent and athleticism on this team,” concluded Reitz. “I think we are mentally ready to face some of the stronger teams in our conference.”

The Yeowomen, who currently stand at 2-6 on the season, will be competing in their first home game of the season this Saturday against Ohio Wesleyan at 1 p.m.

The hungry Yeowomen will be putting their savvy stick skills to work in what will surely be, in the words of Ranieri, “the closing of a gap” between being a budding team and one determined to shake the longstanding NCAC powerhouses from their pedestals.