Over the past two weekends, the Oberlin hockey team, better known as the Plague, has played three tough games and come away on the wrong side of the scoreboard each time. Two of the losses came at the hands of the College of Wooster, while the other one came against a local men’s league.

Even though the Plague failed to notch a win over the past two weekends, the team is playing above expectations, especially considering the fact that many players had little to no hockey experience prior to joining the team. “I am more than pleased with the position the team is in right now,” said first-year Nick Pierce. “We have a lot of enthusiastic players who have no hockey experience, but are coming out consistently and putting in a lot of effort, and I’m honestly shocked at how much improvement I’ve seen.”

Oberlin fell by a score of 2-6 competing against Wooster on February 23. Despite getting tripled up in the goal department, the Plague showed a lot of grit and determination in the third period.

With Wooster leading 6-0 at the half, Oberlin channeled Thor and brought the ruckus out onto the ice for the final period as it blanked Wooster and notched two goals of its own.

The Plague was simply outmatched on March 1 against the local men’s league team that featured several former AHL players. Oberlin couldn’t match the stick skills of its opponents in the non-checking game and fell by a score of 2-13.

The following day, Oberlin had a rematch at Wooster, but the Plague was at a severe disadvantage because only nine players made the trip to the game.

“It was really hard playing a game where at any time there were more players on the ice than on the bench,” said senior and co-captain Bryan Werner. “[I was] very proud of our effort and the fact that nobody on our squad quit on us.”

The Plague fell by a score of 4-5, but two of Wooster’s goals came with a healthy dose of controversy.

Wooster’s third goal came before Werner had entered the face off circle and Plague players were ready to play. The puck was dropped prematurely and Wooster instantly scored. It was later admitted by another official to Plague players that that puck has been dropped early.

Prior to the game, Oberlin and Wooster agreed to play 15 minute periods, but when it was realized that there was extra ice time, five minutes were added to the third period. With just those five added minutes left on the clock in the third, the game was tied.

“Emotionally, it was a rollercoaster ride,” said Pierce. “I remember looking at the bench and seeing tears of joy streaming down faces after we tied it up in the third.”

Wooster stole the game away from the Plague as it scored the game-winning goal during the extra five minutes. Without those two controversial goals, Oberlin could have had a notch in the win column this season.

Regardless, the Plague will get a win this weekend. It will go to either current or former members as the annual alumni double-header will be played on March 8 and 9.