Thirty-six degree temperature, cold, biting rain, a muddy field and over 250 screaming spectators helped create an intense atmosphere as Oberlin played away at Denison under the lights in an NCAC conference semifinal match on Nov. 1. Despite a valiant effort by Oberlin, the team made several costly mistakes, which resulted in an 0-2 loss to Denison.

The first half of the Denison game was deadlocked. Oberlin’s three shots were matched by Denison’s five. A staunch defensive stance from both sides kept the game scoreless in halftime. Senior goalkeeper and tri-captain Clayton Combe and Denison’s first-year goalie Kevin Donahue shared a pair of saves. Judging by the first half, the game appeared to be heading into overtime, similar to the Denison game Oberlin hosted two weeks prior that ended with a double overtime 0-0 tie.

Denison burst that assumption early in the second half by capitalizing on two rare Oberlin mistakes. In the 48th minute, a corner kick by Denison’s Sam Johnson was deflected toward goal by a mistimed header by sophomore midfielder Mike Mullaley. The ball was intercepted by junior Greg Pecora, who headed it over a charging Combe. Seven minutes later Denison scored again, as senior Brad Toth took a shot that appeared to be going wide. First-year midfielder Matt Aucunas slipped in his attempt to head the ball clear and knocked it in for an own-goal, making it 2-0.

Despite these mistakes, Head Coach New did not want to point fingers for the loss. “I don’t want to look at those moments to place blame on particular players. Despite our good play, we made a couple of errors. It was a game [played so well by both sides] that one deserved to lose,” said New.

At 2-0, Oberlin moved into a more attacking formation that applied lots of offensive pressure. It proved to be effective as Oberlin registered nine more shots and forced five saves by the Denison goalkeeper, but the Yeomen could not convert any of the chances.

The loss marks the end to an impressive season full of laudable accomplishments that consisted of a second consecutive playoff appearance, an undefeated 5-0-3 home record and a defensive line that allowed 18 goals in 18 games.

New does not believe these achievements have been lucky. “These past two years we’ve deserved to be where we are [in the playoffs],” said New.

Junior midfielder Sam Zackheim and senior tri-captain midfielder Zach Tesler led the team in goals this season. Zackheim tallied seven goals and passed for one assist, and Tesler scored six, two being team-best game-winners. Combe was solid between the posts, recording eight shutouts, eight wins and saving 69 shots for the season.

Although New was pleased with the season, he said that improvements could still be made. “We’ve got to have a better start to our seasons. We take away three ties and a bad loss, and we have a 12-3-2 season. That will earn a tournament bid,” said New.

But New is confident in his team’s ability to make those improvements, saying, “People were concerned about us last year, because we graduated seven seniors, but we had a great season. We have good program, so we’ll just keep improving.”

A promising 4-0 victory four days earlier against Wabash College clinched a playoff berth by claiming third place for the Yeomen and improving their conference record to 5-2-2. Oberlin finished the year at 8-5-5.