Granville, OH – Playing in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time in school history, the fourth-seeded Oberlin College men's lacrosse team didn't have enough firepower to stay with the top-seeded Denison University Big Red, falling 19-9 on Wednesday night at Deeds Field.
When these two teams met in the regular season, the Big Red scored the game's first seven goals. Tonight, however, it was just a 2-0 Big Red advantage when
Michael Muldoon slithered his way through the Big Red backline to get the Yeomen on the board at the 6:05 mark of the first quarter.
Following a Denison response goal, senior
Tom Decker trimmed the gap to 3-2 with the help of a
JT Starcke feed. Unfortunately, the home side would add on two more first-quarter scores and net the first one of the second to claim a 6-2 advantage.
Muldoon would find the back of the cage twice more in the second session to cap off his first-half hat trick but the Big Red would ultimately carry a 9-4 lead into the halftime intermission.
The Big Red would take complete control of the game by outscoring the Yeomen 7-1 in the third quarter to swell the lead out 16-5 heading into the fourth quarter. The lone Oberlin tally of the period came courtesy of
Niko Maheras.
However, the Yeomen continued to fight to the end, scoring the first four goals of the fourth quarter with
Ryan Blasberg book-ending the four-goal run. In between, Maheras and Decker each found the back of the net with Blasberg assisting on Maheras's finish.
Kiernan Stone led the defensive effort with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers while
Eugene Kang made 18 saves for the Yeomen.
Decker, one of four graduating seniors, departs with 107 career goals and 165 points to rank sixth all-time in each category.
The historic season for the Yeomen concludes with a school-best record of 12-5.
