The Oberlin men’s soccer team has come alive, grabbing two home wins to pad its three game winning streak. Oberlin defeated Westminster College 3-1 on Sept. 23 and Hiram 3-1 on Sept. 26.

In Tuesday’s game against Hiram, the OC squad played with the confidence and poise of a team accustomed to winning. Undaunted by Hiram’s 7-1 record, OC played tough, wore Hiram down and breached their first conference win despite questionable refereeing.

The first half of play saw two evenly matched teams. Both Oberlin and Hiram earned early goals. Junior Sam Zackheim scored off an assist from first-year Skyler Dum in the fourth minute. Hiram responded ten minutes later with an unassisted goal from Kelsey Resnick. The game remained deadlocked for the remainder of the first half.

Throughout the first half neither team was able to dominate the midfield, nor did one team hold ball possession longer than the other. Both Hiram and Oberlin, accustomed to outplaying their opponents, grew frustrated. As tempers mounted, the game became increasingly physical. Three yellow cards were issued in the first half, followed by two more in the second.

The second half of play was an entirely different story. The Yeomen’s constant pressure up the middle of the field with quick bursts of speed on the wings picked apart Hiram’s defense, leading to two more Oberlin goals.

Zackheim bagged his second goal of the game off a pass from sophomore Mike Mullaley while senior tri-captain Zack Tessler and sophomore Zack Lewis put in solid performances on midfield and were unrelenting in their forward pressure. Sophomore Kyle Taljan had a notable midfield battle for ball possesion with Hiram’s Matt Saenz and Matt Urban.

The Yeomen defensive core of senior tri-captain Monty Lobe, juniors Ross Meyers and Tim Kovanda and sophomore John Lindner weathered Hiram counter attack with consistent power to ensure the Oberlin win.

“They’re starting to capitalize on their good play. We’ve scored 12 goals in the past three games,” commented Head Coach Blake New after the game. “I always tell them to take care of the details. Today, they did. It was a good win and a great start for the season.”

OC also dominated Westminster this past Saturday. Although Westminster managed to get a goal off first in the 24th minute off a deflected free kick, Oberlin rallied to secure a win.

Oberlin’s first goal bounced off a glorious header from Zackheim on a corner kick from Mullaley. In the 31st minute constant Yeomen pressure resulted in a loose ball in the box, which senior Tetteh Morton buried for Oberlin’s second goal in the 43rd minute. Oberlin’s final goal came in the 61st minute from an interchange between Lewis and sophomore Luke Hoffman set up with fearless brilliance.

Despite solid wins, the Oberlin men’s soccer team still has a hard season ahead of them and will be traveling to play top ranked Wittenberg this coming Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.