Oberlin began the heart of its conference schedule on Tuesday with a commanding 1-0 victory over Ohio Wesleyan. The win broke a six-game losing streak and gave the Yeowomen a winning record in the North Coast Athletic Conference at 3-2. Oberlin moved into third place behind Denison and Kenyon. Ohio Wesleyan fell to 3-3 in conference play and 6-4 over all. The loss knocked the Battling Bishops into a tie for fifth place with Wittenberg.

“We played a really nice passing game in the first half,” commented junior Holly Sloofman on why Oberlin was able to dominate.

Coach Deb Ranieri was pleased about her team’s efficient play, saying, “We made Ohio Wesleyan run, which was fun to see.”

Oberlin’s ball control led to an increased number of shots, which was an aspect in its game Oberlin had been trying to improve.

“We had a lot of shots on goal,” said Sloofman; Oberlin outshot Ohio Wesleyan 18-5. Oberlin was still unable to translate shots to goals, with senior Ashley Allen scoring the only goal of the game just after halftime.

The dominance on offense allowed Oberlin to control the ball, while at the same time giving the Battling Bishops little opportunity to score. Oberlin needed only two saves from senior goalkeeper Lauren Malinowski, who has had games this season in which she has saved as many as 16 shots. Another contributing factor in the Yeowomen’s victory was their dominance in penalty corners, 12-5.

“Our intensity kind of waned in the second half,” said Sloofman. She explained that the passing game was not nearly as crisp and that Oberlin settled for “dribbling down the sideline” instead of using the middle of the field as it had in the first half.

Oberlin’s last seven games of the season are against conference opponents. It will be important for the team to stay on the winning track to ensure a high seed in the conference tournament. The conference is fairly tight; Kenyon lost on Tuesday to Denison in a stroke-off, cutting Kenyon’s lead in the conference to only half a game. If Oberlin can win its next two games against Denison and Kenyon, it will tie for first place with Kenyon.

“The team that shows up and plays the full 70 minutes usually wins,” explained Ranieri in regards to the tight competition in the conference.

Four out of Oberlin’s five conference games have been decided by one goal. Do not expect this trend to end, being that the teams are all pretty equally matched. Oberlin plays at Denison on October 6th at 6 p.m. The team’s next game after that is at Kenyon on the 10th.