Oberlin Ends Scot Stickers’ NCAA Hopes

Anne Leigh

The College of Wooster field hockey team came up short in its bid for the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title and the conference’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Div. III Championships, falling to No. 1 seed and regular season champion Oberlin College 3-0 in the finals on Saturday afternoon.

The loss ends a remarkable turnaround in the Fighting Scots’ season as they bounced back from a 1-5 start to finish 11-9 overall and 8-4 in the NCAC, tying for second place in the league and grabbing the No. 2 seed for the four-team tournament.

Wooster lost two highly contested games to Oberlin earlier in the season, losing 1-0 in Wooster and falling in strokes 4-3 on the road, but the Yeowomen came out with a purpose in their bid for their first tournament title, scoring the game’s first goal just over two minutes in as Lela Hull slapped one home.

Oberlin outshot the Scots 9-0 in the first stanza and tacked on another score midway through the half when Rosemary Mudry connected on a goal to make it 2-0.

Wooster got back in track in the second half offensively, taking seven shots and forcing 11 penalty corners, but the Scots couldn’t convert any opportunities as Oberlin ‘keeper Lauren Malinowski made all three of her saves in the period.

Mudry tacked on another score with just over 12 minutes to go, making it a 3-0 advantage for the Yeowomen and sealing the Scots’ fate.

Scot goalie Anne Leigh put forth a strong defensive effort despite the loss with 10 saves.