By Rebecca Dann

Ladies field hockey won their third consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) game this past Saturday against Wittenberg University. The win confirmed their top ranking in the conference, giving them an overall conference record of 10-1.

Twenty minutes into the game, the Ladies scored first, with a goal by Weezie Foster ’18, assisted by Shannon Hart ’18. Wittenberg followed suit and scored 12 minutes later to even the score 1-1. A couple minutes into the second half, Wittenberg scored again to take a 2-1 lead. Kenyon wasted no time in the second half, tying the game back up just five minutes later: Hart scored, assisted by Cecilia Depman ’15. Kenyon then regained the lead a minute later with a goal by Maddie Breschi ’16 assisted by Julie Freedman ’15.

“Wittenberg was a wake-up call to remind us that we have to play like the number-one team in the conference,” Sam Johnston ’15 said. “The first half, we all played individualistically, where there was little communication and a lack of effort to work together when we were on the defensive. However, as soon as the second half started, we started playing our usual and effective passing game [and] we were able to fight as a cohesive unit and put up more favorable points on the board.”

The Ladies dominated the second half of the game and scored twice more. Freedman scored Kenyon’s fourth goal of the game, while Rachel Hall ’15 scored the final goal a minute before the end of the game to bring the score to 5-2. This goal allowed Hall to break Kenyon’s 15-year-old record for the most career goals and points with a total of 42 goals and 101 points.

“They played us pretty tough; it was a good game for them,” Head Coach Jacque DeMarco said. “It was nice to see us change some things after half-time and really go after them hard and come out on top.”

The team continues conference play this coming weekend against Denison University on Saturday and Oberlin College on Sunday. Denison is the only conference team that Kenyon has lost to this season.

“As far as the upcoming Denison game goes, the whole team wants revenge,” Johnston said. “We are more than ready this time around to attack the ball with ferocity and defend our goal with every last ounce of energy we’ve got.” Kenyon is up to the challenge.

“I think they’re a really tough team and they play really, really hard,” DeMarco said. “I think that in order for us to come out on top, we just have to start strong and keep going and play strong against them. And I think we can really do it. It should be a good game.”

The team must win these next two conference games to maintain their top conference ranking.

“I think we’ll rise to the challenge and stick to going forward,” DeMarco said.