A win for women's field hockey

GAMBIER, Ohio (November 3, 2004) A day after canceling practice so that her players could stand in line to vote, head coach Robin Cash guided the Kenyon College field hockey team to a 3-0 win over the Oberlin College Yeowomen in Wednesday's semifinal round of the North Coast Athletic Conference playoffs.

The win moves Kenyon to 14-4 overall and pushes the Ladies into the conference championship, where they will face Wittenberg University at 1:00 pm Saturday in Springfield, Ohio. Wittenberg defeated the College of Wooster, 3-2, in Wednesday's other semifinal game.

Before the game Wednesday, the Kenyon team received regional and national media attention for calling off practice and waiting countless hours in Tuesday's voting lines.

The Ladies, however, appeared to be more prepared and relaxed than their opponents when the game started. The Kenyon team dominated the first half of play and posted its first goal when Kate Flinner, Class of 2006, found the Oberlin cage in the game's twentieth minute. Senior Liz Aragona was credited with the assist on the play.

About ten minutes later, the Ladies increased their lead with a goal from senior Maggie Hill, who took an assist from sophomore Sarah Pfeifer. That was plenty for the win, but the Ladies tacked on one more goal late in the game, when Flinner assisted Caroline Graham, Class of 2008.

In front of the Kenyon cage, sophomore goalkeeper Kimberly Brown made three saves and recorded her fifth shutout win of the season. Her season goals against averaged dropped to a remarkable 1.11.

The loss eliminated Oberlin from the conference playoffs and ended the Yeowomen's season with an overall record of 10-9. Kenyon's current win total of 14 matched the program's single-season record set by both the 1996 team and 1997 teams.