Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College field hockey team gave the visiting Denison University Big Red all they could handle, but in the end the Yeowomen finished on the wrong side of a 1-0 count on Thursday afternoon at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex.
The Big Red, who were NCAC Tournament semifinalist in 2015, scored in the 16
th minute of play and made it stand up the rest of the way. It was Abby Martone who sent in her sixth score of the season as she got around an Oberlin defender and snuck her shot into the cage.
Maggie Gossiaux kept the Yeowomen within striking distance throughout the 70 minutes coming up with multiple saves in key situations time and time again. It total, she turned away 13 shots to run her season account to 81, marking her fourth double-digit save performance of the season.
Oberlin was unable to threaten the Big Red arc for much of the contest, but did have a handful of promising runs late in the second half. Their best opportunity came off a corner in the closing minutes when
Ariana Enzerink ripped a shot from the center of the semicircle that was saved by Ellen Westfall.
The win moved Denison to 7-3 on the year and 4-2 in the NCAC as they completed the series sweep of the Yeowomen with a combined score of 5-0. However, the Yeowomen are shrinking the gap against their NCAC foes as last year's combined total in the two battles was 9-1 in favor of Denison.
The Big Red finished with an 18-2 edge in shots, including a 14-1 margin in shots on goal. They also earned 10 corners compared to Oberlin's one.
Oberlin's busy three-game week will continue on Saturday when it makes the short trek to The College of Wooster. The first touch is set for 11 a.m.
