By Reed Dickerson | Staff Writer

Playing through terrible sleet and snow of this past Saturday, Kenyon men’s lacrosse claimed a hard-fought victory over Oberlin College. The game marked the third victory in a row by a one-point margin for the Lords, who are now 7-3 overall and 2-0 in conference.

Midway through the game, the Lords found themselves in a 2-2 deadlock.

“We knew we had to make some adjustment because of the weather, so we tried to focus offensively on less ball movement, more dodging, getting to the goal, getting shots on cage,” Head Coach Doug Misarti said. “We knew defensively as the snow continued to fall that visibility was going to be tough for our goalie.”

The game opened with little offensive momentum from the Lords, but picked up as it ran its course.

“We took advantage of the chances we had … and defensively we were strong,” Misarti said.

Justin Coleman ’15 scored the first goal for the Lords at the 5:55-minute mark in the second quarter, and a goal scored by Caleb Florence ’14 later tied the game at two apiece. Then, Kenyon landed a quick series of goals: within a span of two minutes at the beginning of the third quarter, the Lords scored twice to give them a 4-2 lead, with Alex Lopez ’17 scoring off an assist by Pat Kim ’15, and Zach Arlia ’14 assisted by Coleman.

Oberlin responded, though, scoring three times to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final minutes of the match. With only minutes to play, Coleman and Lopez each scored unassisted goals to give them the 6-5 lead — a lead they sustained for the victory.

For his efforts in the Lords’ most recent games, Lopez was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

The Lords took nearly half as many shots as Oberlin, 17-30, showing the defense’s ability to keep Oberlin’s offense off balance, as well as the ability of goalie Patrick Shevelson ’16 to keep them off the board.

“We played mostly zone defense, keeping their players away from the cage, making sure they couldn’t dodge much,” Misarti said. “So their possession [number] was going to go up, but with hopefully less-effective shots.”

The Lords will next play this upcoming Saturday against Ohio Wesleyan University at home on McBride Field.

“Ohio Wesleyan’s always tough, but it’s exciting, it’s a challenge and we’re going to be ready for it,” Misarti said.