NCAC Week 1

Week 1 action had the Yeomen opening in the midweek with the Wooster Scots at Fred Shults Field and closing on the weekend with a trip to perennial power Ohio Wesleyan.

The home contest versus Wooster was one-way traffic for much of the first 80 minutes, but the advantages in possession and chances yielded only a 1-0 advantage, as Justin Griffiths created havoc for the Wooster rearguard with his 33rd minute cross that found its way to the back of the net. Then another pair defensive miscues nearly turned the game on its head in the final 10 minutes. Fortunately only one of the blushes was punished as Wooster sent the game to overtime. Where once again the Yeomen dominated much of the possession. The game-winner from Evan Atwell came five and half minutes into the overtime from a Oliver Miller-Farrell corner kick.

With the weekend came a road contest to #6 nationally ranked Ohio Wesleyan. Ohio Wesleyan dominated much of the preceding and capitalized early with a goal in the 9th minute. The Yeomen held their ground, bouyed by Zach Lipshultz's top drawer performance. The Yeomen found chances on the counter and through set pieces. The equalizer would come from one such set piece. Wyatt Hayman flicked on a Joe Graybeal long throw in the 51st minute to Oliver Miller-Farrell who poked home his second tally of the year.

So the week ended fairly well, sitting middle of the table on 4 points with a few games in hand. Also Oliver Miller-Farrell earned NCAC player of the week honors for his crucial goal against Ohio Wesleyan and his assist on the game-winner versus Wooster.

Here are the recaps of the action from our opening conference week.

2010 Goals thus far

Here's a little retrospective before our big conference clash with Denison Wednesday.

Pink Jersey Auction

The Oberlin College Men's Soccer team lined up against Earlham College wearing pink OC uniforms this past weekend. The team donned the special uniforms to honor a member of our soccer family. Elizabeth Miller, mother of midfielder Oliver Miller-Farrell, passed away this past spring after a five-year battle with breast cancer. She was a leader in the fight against the disease and spoke at several conferences around the country to survivors and others battling breast cancer.

I got to know Elizabeth when we were recruiting Ollie and it was clear from the start that she was a dynamic person,” Head Coach Blake New said. “I would only see her occasionally, but when I did we had great, lively conversations and she was always concerned about others, but especially about her son. My two daughters were just instantly drawn to her, and each Parent's Weekend we would have to pry them off of Elizabeth's lap. She was a great person and so giving and loving, so we feel it is our duty to honor her by raising awareness of this disease that will affect all of us in our lifetimes."

We are raising money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and are asking $20 for a shirt. You can certainly donate more if you want, but $20 will get you a shirt! Email us at blake.new@oberlin.edu and let us know what number you want.

Oberlin v. Baldwin Wallace

We finished up the home stand on Tuesday versus another OAC opponent with Baldwin-Wallace visiting Fred Shults Field. The game had an ominous beginning when BW opened the scoring with a tap-in off a quick transition in the 7th minute. Despite the rest of the 1st half's numerous chances for both sides, the scoreline would remain 1-0 to BW at the half.

We made some tactical adjustments at the half and took the initiative early in the 2nd half. Our attack pressed forward and Matt Capozzi nearly opened his Oberlin account only to be denied for a corner. That corner would produce the equalizer when Alen Cisija's service bounced around in the penalty area and found Wyatt Hayman free to roof the ball into the net in the 53rd minute. However six minutes later BW would cash in on a scramble in front of goal from a set piece to go ahead 2-1. We continued to take the game to our opponents and Zach Lipshultz put in another good display with some key saves to keep the game at 2-1 but chasing the game again would catch up with us as we conceded a brace in the 83rd minute. Then with the game at 3-1 to BW, Justin Griffiths took advantage of a poor clearance and a wandering goalkeeper to put the scoreline at 3-2 in the 87th minute. Though the goal gave us a lifeline, the clock would run out on our comeback effort and we were left to regret our defensive miscues once again being on the wrong end of the scoreline.

Not much time to regroup before we head to Danville, Kentucky to face perennial powers Centre College and Transylvania University. We open with a stiff test Friday playing Centre in their home opener and on Saturday we meet Transylvania, a sweet 16 NCAA team from a year ago. We'll surely be tested but look forward to the challange.

Oberlin v. Capital

Our good start to the weekend and bright start to the game came apart in a matter of minutes against Capital on Sunday. We opened the game with a goal in just the 2nd minute from Oliver Miller-Farrell, who tucked away his first tally of the year after a Justin Griffiths through ball unlocked the Capital rearguard. However our bright start unraveled in the 30th minute when a defensive miscue gift-wrapped Capital an equalizer. Just a minute later another lapse saw us concede a second goal to Capital and the even contest now had momentum swinging against us. We went into the half confident we could recover from the one goal deficit. In the 2nd half we created chances and were buoyed by Zach Lipshultz's strong play between the sticks but we couldn't manage an equalizer, chasing the game eventually caught up to us and we conceded a 3rd goal in the 79th minute in transition. The game ended and we were on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline. We left feeling equal to our opponents but weren't nearly as sharp on the night, so we look forward to correcting some of the lapses and rebounding against BW on Tuesday.

Oberlin v. Otterbein

Our second match went much like the first, we had control for much of the game and couldn't quite connect in the final third. Though this time we did have to wait until the 75th minute for Justin Griffiths to tally his game-winner off a set piece. Otterbein had a bit more bite than Albion, but rarely threatened. It continues to be a good start keeping a second consecutive clean sheet but more potent opponents are ahead with Capital and Baldwin-Wallace looming.

Enjoy the game recap below. Keep following us here and catch a live home match via webcast at www.goyeo.com

Season Opening Win

For the first time in several years the Oberlin College men's soccer team opened the season away from home. The team traveled to Albion, Mich. to take on the Albion College Britons. The team's objective was to treat the match as a business trip... get there, establish our style of play, get the win and return to Oberlin to prepare for a three game home stand. As the team unloaded from the bus the temperature was a bit warm and the air heavy. As the boys were halfway through their warm-up it began to rain, we experience on again off again heavy rain throughout the contest. The starting 11 found good rhythm and time on the ball to create good chances early. Sophomore forward Justin Griffiths turned on the top of the penalty box after receiving a fine entry pass from Oliver Miller-Farrell and buried the shot at the far post in the side netting. The team produced a few other moments of brilliance that came up just a bit short in the first half. The team endured an energetic spell from the Albion team through the first 20 minutes of the second half before finding the majority of possession through the final whistle.

"It was a good first effort by the team. We were a bit short handed due to a few injuries and a couple of first-year players who remained on campus to take placement exams. The combination play between our front players is really starting to come together and last night it resulted in a beautiful goal by JGriff," commented Associate Head Coach Wes Davis.

Enjoy the video footage of the first goal of the 2010 season. If you are unable to make it to a home contest in Oberlin be sure to watch all home matches streaming live at www.goyeo.com .

Pre-season has begun

The 2010 season is upon us and the Yeomen are partaking in pre-season training. The returners look good and the incoming first-year players are integrating themselves well through the first two days of training. The team looks fit, technical and they are eating up every tactical situation we throw at them. As a coaching staff we are hopeful that over the next week the guys will continue to improve their fitness level and understanding of our tactics. The first two weeks of the season will provide the team with several competitive matches and should set us off on the right foot to challenge for the top of the NCAC. We will be posting some video in the next couple of days of training including a couple player interviews.

GO YEO!

Top 5 Saves

Here's a compilation of our 5 best saves from this past season as determined by the staff. Enjoy the video.

Top 5 Goals from 2009

Here is the staff's top 5 list of top drawer goals from the 2009 season. Enjoy the show.

Oberlin Soccer Players Earn Post-Season Awards

After a successful 2009 campaign where the team finished 9-6-2 several of Oberlin's soccer players received post-season accolades.

Five Oberlin College men’s soccer players earned conference honors, highlighted by senior Skylar Dum who was named as an All-NCAC First Team Selection.

Fellow senior Dan Jaffe garnered All-NCAC Second-Team accolades along with junior goalkeeper Zach Lipshultz. Junior Wyatt Hayman and sophomore Oliver Miller-Farrell were tabbed as honorable-mention selections.

“I am proud of these guys for what they were able to achieve this season as individuals, but more importantly what they meant for our team,” Head Coach Blake New said.

Dum, a native of Milford, Michigan, led the NCAC with 1.82 points per game and finished second in the league with 14 goals in helping the Yeomen finish 9-6-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the conference.

Jaffe, a defensive-minded midfielder, finished the season with one goal and one assist. He also played a large role in limiting Oberlin opponents to just 19 goals on the season – the third least in the NCAC.

Lipshultz, who stayed healthy for a full season for the first time in his career, finished second in the save percentage (.839), saves (94), saves per game (5.53) and goals against (18).

Hayman, one of the best center-backs in the NCAC, was also a key contributor to a stingy Oberlin defense that recorded six shutouts on the year while holding opposing foes to just 1.06 goals per game, which ranks fourth best in the NCAC.

Miller-Farrell, who missed some time due to injury this season, was still a factor in the Yeomen offense and as a main striker on corners. He ended the season with three assists, including the game-winner in double overtime against Wabash in the final game of the season.

Skylar was also selected to the NSCAA First Team All-Great Lakes Region team, he was a 2nd team selection a year ago. The entire Oberlin men's soccer team was awarded the NSCAA Team Academic Award proving that you can continue to pursue your academic endeavors while being highly competitive.

Most Recently Dan Jaffe and Zach Lipshultz were named to the Jewish Sports Review's All-American teams for their efforts this season. Jaffe was a First Team selection while Lipshultz garnered Honorable Mention status.

Well deserved boys!