Oberlin, Ohio – In their most complete game of the season, the Oberlin College men's lacrosse team battled point-for-point with the nationally ranked Kenyon Owls. Although a close game from start to finish, the Yeomen ultimately fell 15-12 to their NCAC rivals. With the loss to #24 Kenyon, Oberlin drops back to 7-7 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.
 
The Crimson and Gold made a statement on the defense as the backline combined for 42 ground balls and ten caused turnovers. Kiernan Stone led the charge with 11 ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers, while JT Starcke and David Belisle brought in eight GBs and five CTOs. Flexing their muscles, the Yeomen locked in on the settled Owls offense, forcing a trio of clock violations.
 
The star of the Oberlin resistance was first-year goalie Jake Pillsbury who racked up 15 saves and a pair of ground balls.
 
Ryan Blasberg led the Yeoman offense with four points, three coming from assists to Solomon Brennan, Jacob Starcke, and Max Cha. The later trio and Niko Maheras combined for eight of the team's 12 goals.
 
The Owls scored the game's first goal, but it was Blasberg up the middle who put Oberlin on the board and tied the game at 1-1. After letting in another Kenyon goal, senior Michael Muldoon ducked through his defender and connected with the back of the net to keep the game tied.
 
Sandwiching the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, goals from J. Starcke and Cha brought Oberlin within one of the visitors. The teams swapped scores midway through the period before the Owls added one more for an 8-6 lead at the half.
 
The Yeomen tried to rally from behind after Kenyon picked up a handful of goals to extend their lead to four. Capitalizing on a conduct penalty that gave the Yeomen automatic possession, Cha scored at the 5:59 mark of the third quarter just before J. STarcke added another goal to bring Oberlin back within two.
 
After losing the opening faceoff in the fourth quarter, Oberlin found themselves down early in the fourth quarter after Cha earned a 30 second penalty. Rookie Pillsbury came up big with a doorstep stop before successfully clearing the ball downfield. In a scrum after a blocked shot by Maheras, the Kenyon cage minder lost the ball behind his feet as it crossed the goal line. The NCAC visitors responded immediately with four-straight goals as the win seemed to fall out of reach for the Yeomen. A late-game rally with goals from Jack Duffy and Maheras came up short for Oberlin as they Yeomen fell 15-12 to the #24 Owls.

With their victory, the Kenyon Owls claim a share of the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Regular Season title.
 
Oberlin packs their bags for their final game of the regular season as they head to Wittenberg for a must-win NCAC matchup. The game is slated for Saturday, April 29 at 1pm with a live stream available here and stats available here.
 
Fans can watch all the home matches live online. Home contests can be accessed on a TV through the official Oberlin College Sports Network app on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.