The women’s lacrosse team accomplished two back-to-back historic conference wins last week. The Yeowomen beat Ohio Wesleyan University for the first time in 13 years by just one point in overtime on Thursday, April 18. The team then honored their seniors proudly as they shut out Hiram College 18–0 on Saturday.

Thursday’s victory over Ohio Wesleyan was a spectacle. “That was the best win that we’ve had; it was unbelievable,” said sophomore captain Bronwen Schumacher. The game was very close throughout, and the two teams continued to trade goals until the very end.

Junior Sarah Andrews, who Schumacher says has “been on fire these past three weeks,” was crucial to the Yeowomen’s attack, scoring four goals before the game went into overtime.

With just six seconds left in the game, it was tied at 15–15. Senior defender Molly Bloom recounted these last seconds as one of the most stressful moments in her Oberlin lacrosse career. “I let this girl get by me and as I watched her run by me, I thought, ‘This is it; we’re going to lose and it’s all my fault,’” said Bloom. “But then, she hit the post and the game went into overtime.”

By the close of the second half the Yeowomen were exhausted. Many of their players were injured and the Bishops tired out the Yeowomen by rotating their players.

After two unfortunate and very close losses to Kenyon College and Allegheny College a couple of weeks prior, the Yeowomen were determined to turn things around despite their exhaustion.

“This was kind of a do-or-die game to win,” added Bloom. Before the game, the Yeowomen had no idea that they hadn’t defeated the Bishops in 13 years, especially because the two teams have recently had very close matches.

“We’ve been getting closer and closer to them every year,” said Bloom. “Last year we lost by one and the year before we did really well but didn’t beat them. I was surprised to learn we hadn’t beaten them in 13 years.”

The Yeowomen entered overtime on the attack, scoring two goals before the Bishops got a chance. Unfortunately, with about a minute left of play, the Bishops scored another point on the Yeowomen, bringing the score to 17–16.

“Possession became super important,” said Bloom. “We needed to get the ball and have the ball as much as possible.” The Yeowomen were able to push through their injuries and fatigue and ended the game with a memorable 16–17 win over the Bishops.

Saturday’s senior day game was not nearly as contentious, but it was nevertheless a monumental way for the Yeowomen to honor their four graduating players. The Yeowomen scored 18 points on Hiram College, and senior goalkeeper Madeleine O’Meara earned her first college shutout.

Schumacher attributes much of Saturday’s success to the Yeowomen’s strong defensive line. “We have been working on a zone defense,” said Schumacher. “It’s a very hard defense because it requires a lot of stamina, but we’ve all been in really good shape this season.”

The Yeowomen were able to send many of their defenders up to attacking positions and managed to simply play their game. “It was a perfect example of us just playing lacrosse,” said Schumacher.

Bloom, who until this season had played midfield, was able to play further up and score five goals, bringing her just one goal away from the 100th goal of her career. Senior Christina Perez-Tineo played her final home game in style as well, scoring the first hat trick of her Oberlin career.

“It was a really good sendoff for the seniors,” said Bloom. “During the last two games we’ve really been playing as a team and our cohesion has been amazing.”

Despite a loss on Wednesday against Wittenberg College, who is undefeated in the North Coast Athletic Conference conference, the Yeowomen will play Wooster College this Saturday for one more shot to seal their spot in the NCAC conference tournament.