With six games under its belt, the Oberlin men’s lacrosse team has hit the ground running with a 5–1 record. In its most recent game against the University of Mount Union Raiders, the squad’s strong defensive presence of 23 turnovers and seven shots prevented the Raiders from hitting the goal. This week, fourth-year attacker and midfielder Michael Muldoon was named North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week for scoring nine points in two games. Emerging from the COVID-19 hiatus, Muldoon is optimistic about the team’s performance, although he believes there are some things the team can work on going into this weekend’s game against Wittenberg University. 

“I think the game this past weekend was really good,” Muldoon wrote in an email to the Review. “The defense was holding it down, and the offense generated a ton of shots. In the future, I think we just have to work on shot placement to improve our efficiency. Our team generally starts to click in the fourth quarter so it would be nice to have that throughout the whole game rather than toward the end.” 

Muldoon leads the team and ranks third in the NCAC with 22 points. His 14 goals are fourth best in the league, while his eight assists rank him fifth in the conference.

The team’s success this season can be attributed in part to the strong defensive presence on the field and the mix of veteran leadership and talented third-year players. 

College fourth-year defensive player Kiernan Stone also believes that Assistant Men’s Lacrosse Coach Jackson Mumford has been integral to the team’s success. 

“On the defensive side, I think Coach Mumford’s schemes have really helped us shut offenses down, as well as the cohesiveness of our group,” Stone wrote to the Review. “Eugene [Kang] in goal has also been a huge help for us.”

The team’s next home game is this Saturday at 4 p.m. against Wittenberg, during which the Yeomen will hopefully continue to dominate the field.