GAMBIER, Ohio – Nick Vitale and Will Robbins each reached season-high goal totals and the Kenyon College defense harassed Oberlin College into 20 turnovers during Wednesday's 15-10 North Coast Athletic Conference victory at McBride Field.
 
The Lords (8-4, 4-2 NCAC) moved closer to clinching a spot into the four-team NCAC Tournament which starts in two weeks while the Yeomen dropped their seventh straight game (5-7, 0-5 NCAC).
 
Oberlin seized a quick 2-0 lead just 1:42 into the contest as Reese Koburov and Tom Decker scored their 17th and 18th goals, respectively. That prompted a Kenyon timeout which led to the Lords responding.  After the quick break, Pierce Kraft found Robbins who netted his sixth goal of year. About two minutes, later, Kraft fed Vitale for the tying score.
 
The teams traded goals after that, and with 8:56 left in the second, Oberlin led 5-4. Down again, the Lords really got into gear and managed to score four straight.
 
In the final 8:56 of the second, Kenyon out-shot Oberlin 10-1 and forced five turnovers. Jonah Florence started the Lords' 4-0 stretch as he found Kraft for a man-up goal at the 8:03 mark. Josh Galardi then put Kenyon ahead 6-5 as he scored about 80 seconds later. A one-goal advantage was extended to 7-5 by Vitale before Galardi tacked on the team's final goal of the quarter with 1:04 left.
 
Third-quarter action saw Oberlin score on four occasions, however, Kenyon did not relinquish its lead and took an 11-9 advantage into the fourth.
 
During the final quarter, the Lords' defense really stepped up. Ben Bassett, Patrick Coughlin and Kern Byrnes all had caused turnovers. The Yeomen did tally a goal to bring the count to 11-10 with 10:32 left; however, Kenyon stifled Oberlin's offense the rest of the way. Oberlin had just one shot on goal, which came to Steve Kelleher with 6:13 left, but Nick Connelly saved his attempt.
 
Kenyon added four more goals including three by Robbins to pull away and extend its winning streak in the series against Oberlin to 28 games.
 
The Lords will return to action on April 18 when they visit the NCAC's first-place team, Denison University.