With the final seed in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament on the line, the women’s lacrosse team dropped its last game to The College of Wooster Fighting Scots on Saturday by a score of 11–15. The Yeowomen concluded their season with an overall record of 8–5, including a 3–5 record in conference play. The annual Senior Day festivities preceded Saturday’s contest, as the team honored the six graduating seniors on the team.

The Yeowomen held their own against the Fighting Scots in the opening minutes and even managed to briefly gain the lead shortly after the start of the second half of the game. Ultimately, these efforts were not enough to thwart Wooster’s offensive momentum, as the team netted six unanswered goals to close out the game. First-year goalkeeper Alexa L’Insalata, who made 18 saves, cited several reasons for the close loss.

“I do not believe the pressure is what caused the outcome of the game, because in other high-pressure games the outcome was the opposite,” L’Insalata said. “We were just unable to capitalize enough on the chances we had to come back and win the game in the end.”

Despite the loss, there remains great promise for the Yeowomen’s next season. All 11 goals were tallied by underclassmen. First-year Sara Phister spearheaded the Oberlin offense by racking up six scores, while classmates Morgan Daruwala and Marissa Maxfield added two and one more, respectively. Sophomore Grace Barlow also slipped two shots by the Fighting Scots goalkeeper to finish with a personal-record 48 goals this season.

“I think I had more confidence as a sophomore this season, but it really all comes from my teammates and my coach,” said Barlow. “[Head] Coach [Lynda] McCandlish has taught us more about lacrosse and shown us how good we can be. There was so much trust between the coaching staff and the team and it made a huge difference.”

For McCandlish, Saturday marked the end of her first season coaching at Oberlin. She seamlessly stepped into the role of head coach last fall. Under her leadership the Yeowomen doubled their wins from last spring.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better first season at Oberlin,” McCandlish said. “The team has such amazing, well rounded, great student-athletes. It was a pleasure to coach them this year. Everyone worked hard and improved over the whole season. We won some big games that got some people’s attention, and I’m excited to build on that next year.”

Senior captain Simone Brodner seconded McCandlish’s positivity about this year and future seasons.

“This team is definitely the strongest and most skilled team I’ve been on,” Brodner said. “I think Lynda McCandlish is an incredible coach and has brought a new level of team play and tactics to a group of skilled individuals.”

This year’s graduating class played under three different head coaches in their four seasons at Oberlin. Overall, though, senior Sarah Andrews reflects on her experience positively.

“It’s such an honor to have played with everyone,” Andrews said. “We’ve been through three head coaches and so many more assistant coaches. There’s been so much, and our team’s grown through each and every obstacle.”

Along with Andrews and Brodner, the Yeowomen bid farwell to graduating seniors Hannah Christiansen, Heewon Kwon and Review editors Phoebe Hammer and Sarah Orbuch.