New leadership fuels soccer team

Strong second half gives Yeowomen 4-0 victory in this week's opener at Hiram

Captain senior Mikylah Myers sets a pick for first-year Erin Williamson, who gets open when her defender, sophomore Nicole James runs into Myers and falls to the ground. Williamson screams, "Header, score!"

No points were put on the scoreboard. In fact, there wasn't even a ball. Just a couple of teammates playing around, outside their coach's office in Philips Gymnasium.

The Yeowomen are so excited about this season that they even practice their corner kick plays when they are not in practice. The sort of spirit they have after practices spilled over into the first game, a 4-0 victory at Hiram Wednesday.

With a new Head Coach, Blake New, five contributing first-years, and no player losses to graduation, the Yeowomen expect to be competitive, playing with an up-tempo, high-pressure style of play.

"We're going to be a good team. Better than last year. We want to win every game," New said.

As a part-time assistant coach last season, New became close with the team. He became head coach in April after Mary Gibson resigned.

New played for the Cleveland Clash of the Major Indoor Soccer League in the early 1990s, and coached in the women's semi-pro league, WISL, with the Cleveland Eclipse. He grew up playing soccer and was a four year starter at goalkeeper for Cleveland State University, a Division I soccer team.

With all of his experience, New said he can "jump right in there and show them how it is supposed to be done."

"He made a difference last year; we knew we were getting a good head coach," junior Katherine Roberts said.

Senior Camille Macpherson shares the role as captain with Myers. Senior Liz Baron also brings leadership as a former captain.

"When Macpherson plays she's calm and controlled, which gives you this feeling of confidence," sophomore Lisa Novins said.

Key returning players also include Roberts, junior Alicia Oakley and sophomore Rachel MaGuire. Oakley is the only goalkeeper on the team, so she's irreplaceable.

The Yeowomen lost two starters of last year's team to injuries. Sophomores Sarah Allen and Tikvah Myers are both out for the season. Allen has a stress fracture and Myers had knee surgery. Both played defense.

As a new coach, New didn't have last year to recruit, and still five first-years landed in the program. New hopes all five will contribute to the Yeowomen's success. Williamson is the starting sweeper, while first-year Mia Skutel is a starting striker.

In addition to the new first-years, three other players, Nicole James, sophomore Naomi Sikes- Gilbert and senior Allison Ching are new to the team.

The College of Wooster lost a lot of speed when James decided to transfer to Oberlin. She started as a defender for Wooster last season.

On Wednesday, the top 18 on the depth charts traveled to Hiram, in the Yeowomen's first match.

At the half the score was 0-0. "It was extremely frustrating because we were obviously the better team," sophomore Lisa Novins said. The ball was rarely on the Yeowomen's side of the field.

Hiram's use of bunch ball defense prevented the Yeowomen from scoring in the first half.

But a 0-0 tie it was not to be. "We picked it up a notch and passed a lot better," Novins said. "We were able to make a lot of connections, passes and runs penetrating their defense."

The Yeowomen outshot Hiram 21-1 and put in four second-half goals: two by Novins, one by Roberts, and one on a well-placed volley by Baron. The team came back to Oberlin with a 4-0 victory.

The team has two challenging away games next week, before their home opener a week from Saturday. Saturday, the Yeowomen go to Wilmington College for a night-game under the lights. Tuesday, the team plays Walsh College.