Women's Lax Finishes Strong With 12-9 Win

OC Claims Two Seed, 2nd Round Bye In NCAC's

There is a reason why rivalries exist in sports. The Big Red of Denison and our own beloved Stickwomen of Oberlin have developed quite a mutual distaste for one another the past few years. Denison (12) and Oberlin (3) have accounted for all 15 NCAC championships since the conference began. After falling to the mighty Big Red last Saturday, OC rebounded with an impressive 12-9 defeat of the Ladies of Kenyon College. The Kenyon victory marks a steady regular season in which the team lost only one NCAC game. More importantly, the win ensures the squad of a first-round bye in the NCAC tournament Saturday afternoon against the College of Wooster at Wittenberg University.

Senior Maggie McFalls garnered player of the game honors, tallying five goals and two assists. McFalls highlighted a high-scoring first half in which Lax headed into the lockerroom up 7-6. From then on, the defense applied the clamps to the Ladies' pressure and outscored Kenyon 5-3. Senior Lydia Ries added five goals, an assist and nine shots on goal to complement McFalls in OC's offensive effort.

The Ladies could manage only 17 shots to OC's 22. Junior Alex Grindle stood proud in goal as she watched the team close out a strong regular season.

In Tuesday's quarterfinal action, the Fighting Scots beat Wittenberg University 22-10 and Kenyon made a quick turnaround with a 14-6 victory over Ohio Wesleyan University.

Ries led the Stickwomen in every major offensive category with 49 goals, four assists, 4.42 goals per game and 87 shots. Those numbers put her second in goals and third in points and points per game. McFalls was the only other major contributor on offense with 38 tallies with four assists and a 3.50 points per game average.

Sophomores Selena Kansal and Patia Maule began to pick up the scoring slack late in the season, adding 10 and seven points, respectively. Senior Amanda Kolker had notched eight goals in eight games for OC, but fell victim to a season-ending injury.

Senior Sarah Bergman and juniors MaraSara Salvania and Miranda Reason rounded out the scoring, with Salvania and Bergman netting four each and Reason nabbing two.

For the year, in 12 games and 726 minutes, Grindle finished with 113 saves, 113 goals against, a goals against average of 9.42 and a save percentage of .506.

The ladies have the upper hand in tomorrow's matchup with the Scots, having defeated the kilted lasses 9-7 on April 12. But Wooster's program has steadily improved the last few years, and if the Yeowomen are passive and not setting up their plays properly, OC may be in trouble. But this team has the experience, veteran leadership and playoff savvy to ward off the butterflies. All signs point to a Denison-Oberlin rematch to determine the conference champion.

The NCAC victor is one of only 10 automatic bids to the NCAA Division III tourney. Therefore, if the Yeowomen can defeat Wooster on Saturday and Denison on Sunday, they are NCAA bound.

Tomorrow's game hopefully will showcase an integration of an OC offense that has not quite reached its apex thus far. The scoring still relies far too heavily on one-on-one rushes by Ries and McFalls. Though a slow-paced game is their style, the team would like to balance the attack with set plays and more goals from transition offense.

If you have the time, organize a caravan to cheer on the women's lacrosse team as they do battle with the College of Wooster Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Wittenberg.