Unable to keep up with the Kenyon College Ladies, the Oberlin field hockey team fell 7–0 in Gambier, Ohio last Sunday, Oct. 26. The loss puts the Yeowomen at 2–11 in conference play and 2–12 overall.

The Ladies secured their victory by tallying three goals in the first half and tacking on four more in the latter part of the game. Despite the large score gap, sophomore goalkeeper Maggie Gossiaux held her own with 12 saves.

“Kenyon has some really skilled strikers and tippers and we had a tough time combating that,” said Gossiaux. “We struggled to get through their midfield, and as a result we had a hard time generating an attack.”

In addition to tough play, Head Coach Anna Baeth attributed the loss to the team’s low numbers, something that Oberlin’s field hockey team has struggled with all season.

“Kenyon outran us at certain points, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game, which never is a pleasant experience, but I think it’s also due to the fact that we didn’t have anybody else to sub in,” said Baeth.

In the week leading up to the Kenyon match, the Yeowomen proved their resilience with a 3–1 victory over the Earlham College Quakers after falling 9–1 to the DePauw University Tigers the day before. In tallying their second win of the season, the Yeowomen also became the first Oberlin team to win in the new Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex.

“One thing that we’ve been really focusing on this season is trust on the field and making those passes and also trusting that people are going to be there. I think that really came through,” said Baeth.

Fifth-year defender Hannah Christiansen sparked Oberlin’s momentum with a goal in the first half. Despite a quick rebuttal on the part of the Quakers, the Yeowomen were able to take the lead in the second half as sophomore Maureen Coffey and junior Sophie Weinstein each added a goal, securing the 3–1 victory.

Defensively, Gossiaux carried the Yeowomen as she tallied 15 saves over the course of the match. The game marked her ninth double-digit save performance.

“I personally have been struggling with injuries, but I think I came out hard, and I’m happy with how I played,” said Gossiaux.

Gossiaux is not the only one of her teammates who has been battling injuries. Junior captain Taylor Swift, who suffered from a stress fracture earlier this season, is still recovering and as a result is limited to 16 minutes of play per half. Despite these setbacks, the Yeowomen were able to field 11 players against The College of Wooster just five days later on Friday, Oct. 24.

“I think the score could’ve been different if we had an 11th player the whole game, simply because being a person down does make a huge difference in terms of getting double teamed and not being able to control the ball,” said junior captain Taylor Swift. “But I’m still extremely proud of how everyone played that game.”

Although the Yeowomen were defeated 3–0, the game proved monumental in that Gossiaux exceeded 250 saves for the season and the offense was able to obtain a season high of 18 shots on goal.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries this season, so it was nice to finally have everybody back and to be able to finally get everybody on the same page, and I think that really came through in a lot of our play,” said Baeth. “Just connecting passes, taking shots, getting corners — finally the stats are catching up.”

Next up, the Yeowomen will be taking on the Denison University Big Red for the second time this season on Saturday, Nov. 1 at noon at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletic Complex — this time with a full roster. The last contest against the Big Red resulted in a 9–0 loss for the Yeowomen, who were three players short of their usual numbers due to injury.

“The expectation is really that we have that same level of fight this weekend when we have enough people,” said Baeth.