The Oberlin women’s soccer team continued to be road warriors this season, moving its record to a solid 3–3–1 over the past week. The Yeowomen closed out a pair of tough wins in Indiana over Anderson University and Manchester College before coming up just short in a hard-fought defeat to the University of Mount Union.

Oberlin began the weekend looking to avenge a 6–1 loss to conference foe Baldwin-Wallace College.

“We really wanted to start fresh and change our attitude,” said senior co-captain Lori Sako.

This mindset showed immediate effects, as 10 different players had shots on goal against Anderson.

“We wanted to score first and keep the other team on their toes,” Sako said.

Midway through the second half the Yeowomen did just that, with first-year Emily Brennan scoring her first collegiate goal. Senior co-captain Ryann McChesney’s second goal of the season, on a beautiful assist from first-year Abby Weiss, sealed the victory for Oberlin.

The next afternoon, the Yeowomen headed to Manchester College to take on the Spartans. This match kept fans on the edge of their seats as the two teams fought back and forth for the win. Finally, after a defensive battle for the majority of the contest, senior Ryann McChesney put a free kick in the back of the net with 10 minutes left in the second half.

“We had a lot of opportunities [to score],” junior Hannah Combe said. “Their wall was set up badly so Ryann took advantage of that, found the low left corner, and placed it right there.”

The final minutes of the game were dramatic, as both teams were awarded respective penalty kicks, but the Yeowomen relied on first-year goalie Kate Frost to seal the 1–0 victory.

On Tuesday night, the Yeowomen traveled to Alliance, Ohio, to face the University of Mount Union. This time Oberlin found itself on the wrong end of a defensive struggle, as the only goal came from the Purple Raiders early in the second half. The Yeowomen did have several shots on goal, but could not take advantage.

“We have incredible potential, and all we need is one distinct breakout game,” Combe said. “We had hoped Mount Union would be that game, but all we can do is learn from our mistakes and come away with things we need to fine-tune and make each loss a learning experience until we win. Our team requires a certain ruthlessness that we have not yet awakened as a group. Once we are able to tap into that bloody-mindedness we’ll be able to score those goals. That killer instinct, that edge, is still something we are working on.”

The team looks to its success in Indiana as inspiration for a season that has introduced numerous first-year players to college-level soccer.

“It’s just such a new team,” Sako said. “The team chemistry is good, but it has taken a little while to get used to playing with everyone because there are so many young players.”

The Yeowomen will look to exhibit their “killer instinct” this Saturday in a home contest against Brockport at 2 p.m. on Fred Shults field.