Women's Lacrosse Takes One at Home

Team confident about season and going to championships

Though the women's lacrosse team got off to a rocky start this season and lost their first two games to Tufts University and Wesleyan University in Florida over spring break, the team banded together for their first home game on Tuesday, trouncing the Frostburg State University Bobcats 14-5.

It was a cold, rainy game, with hardly any spectators except for the men's lacrosse team who stopped by to form a human pyramid and cheer the Yeowomen on before returning to their practice. It must have seemed even colder and wetter to Frostburg, though, as they had to take the long drive home in complete defeat.

"We did well," Coach Mindy Manalovitch said. "We stuck to our game plan and capitalized on what we needed to." Manalovitch cited wise defensive commitment, good interior passing and a use of trailing players as examples of the game plan.

The coach was also impressed with the way Oberlin didn't give up the ball in transition, was effective in their double-teaming and homed in on their opponent's weaknesses. Goalie sophomore Alysia Oakley supported this. "They had a few fast breaks which were stopped with good double-teaming from [sophomore] Cecily [Bean]."

The defense was strong, but the offense stole the show. With hat-tricks from sophomore Kim Allen and co-captain senior Katherine Williams, as well as five goals from senior Bepi Barry, the Yeowomen appeared as a blur of cutting and slashing sticks that almost always ended with the ball being flung into the back of the net.

With ten first-half goals the Yeowomen were in complete control of the game. The Bobcats could only muster two goals in the half-hour. Frostburg came back with three quick goals in the second half, following efforts by the Yeowomen to slow down the pace of the game.

"At the half we were dominating," Manalovitch said. "We wanted to slow down the pace and work on our possession time." Assistant Coach Blake New would time offensive possession time with a stopwatch.

This different style of play was new to the Yeowomen and they were clearly uncomfortable with it. "We didn't have an understanding of what it is to slow a game down," Manalovitch said. "The momentum changed once they converted after a turnover and got that goal. They have to understand the momentum changes in every game and see if they can recover from it. I knew our defense and attack was strong enough to change the momentum again."

Frostburg's three quick goals alerted the Yeowomen to their weakness and, after a timeout, came back out to score the last four goals and crush any Frostburg hopes of a comeback.

Another reason for the strong Oberlin showing was the Yeowomen's mindset going into the game. Frostburg is a Division II school and gave Oberlin an overtime loss two years ago. "We realized we needed to come out strong from the very beginning," sophomore Kim Allen said.

"We need to get our focus away from judging the team and expect them to be our best challenge," Manalovitch said. "This forces us to step-up and improve our skills."

This supports Manalovitch's desire to take the season game-by-game. "We have to stay present on small goals, not the score of the game," she said. "We know we went to conference the last two years, but we still had seven losses last year. We need to stay present on each game and each practice. Going to the championships is not a goal, it's an expectation."

One way of doing this is to have each player set a personal goal for every game. "If we stay focused in the present we'll do well," Manalovitch said.

Another new practice of Manalovitch's is to abolish player's positions. "This year we have no positions, but players play different roles. We look at player's strengths and put players on the field depending upon where they're needed."

"I think this helps rather than hinders," Oakley said. "You have a better sense of where everyone will be. If you play center one time then the next time you'll know where the center is playing."

Manalovitch is pleased with her team's progress during the season thus far. "We're ahead of ourselves in terms of last year, " she said. "We're playing a much more technical game. Our opponents come to us instead of us going to them. We want to play our game and not play their game."

The coach is pretty confident about the season, though she expects some intended challenges. "I designed the schedule to be more competitive," Manalovitch said. "Ohio Wesleyan [University] is pretty good, we have Gannon University on Friday, Ithaca is ranked nationally, and Denison is always strong."

The team plays Gannon on Friday at 4 p.m. Gannon is a Division II school who also beat Frostburg by a lot. "It should be a good game," Oakley said. "I know we'll win."

Yeowoman on the run: The women's lacrosse team ran all over the field on Tuesday and ended up running away with the game, 14-5. This year's team is a strong one and expects to go to the championships. (photo by Zach Fried)