The women’s hockey team traveled to New London on Friday for the first game of a crucial weekend series against NESCAC foe Connecticut College, eager to snap a 0-5-2 skid that followed a 2007 opening win against St. Catherine, and the Cardinals came out with a win and a tie.

History was on the Cardinals’ side as Wesleyan entered the series 30-5-3 all-time against the Camels. After a scoreless first period, Amanda Nickels ’08 scored her seventh goal of the year with 4:11 remaining in the second. Wesleyan successfully killed four Camel power plays in the third (and eight in the game) and held on for a 1-0 victory. Goalie Rachel Stemerman ’09 continued her outstanding play, making 34 saves en route to her second career shutout.

“It was really important,” said Izzy Huston ’10. “If we didn’t pull out a win this weekend, we didn’t really have a chance of making the NESCACs.”

The Cardinals, however, were unable to complete a sweep of the weekend series on Saturday, instead battling to a 1-1 tie. The Camels’ only score came on yet another power-play goal in the first period. Nickels netted her team-leading eighth goal with 38 seconds remaining in the second to tie the game at one apiece.

Stemerman again proved to be the straw that broke the Camels’ backs, making 38 more saves to preserve the Cardinals’ fourth tie this season.

“The Conn. games were extremely important for the team,” Stemerman said. “With the NESCAC being so tight this season, every point counts.”

However, the team is beginning to grow frustrated with its inability to pull out a “W” in close games. Wesleyan was outshot in the Saturday tie 39-25 and currently has a 175-78 shot deficit in its four ties. The team also fell to 1-3-4 in games decided by one goal or fewer, including 0-1-3 in overtime.

“We are never satisfied with a tie or [close] loss,” Huston said. “It has been frustrating in the sense that we’ve tied so many times. We play our hardest every game, and that’s what’s really important to us.”

The win and tie against the Camels came three days after the team concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule, falling to Sacred Heart, 4-2 last Tuesday.

Wesleyan was hit with a penalty for having too many players on the ice 6:17 into the game, and the Pioneers capitalized for a 1-0 lead. Just under four minutes later, Julia Cohen ’09 scored her first power-play goal of the year to tie the game. Sacred Heart, however, regained the lead early in the second period after Nickels was whistled for a holding penalty with 46 seconds remaining in the first.

The power play carried into the second period and the Pioneers scored 25 seconds into the second to regain the lead. Antoinette Zosherafatain ’10 scored her third goal of the season at 1:39 to retie the game, but Sacred Heart regained the lead for good with a goal eight seconds later. The Pioneers added another power-play goal 8:22 into the third to round out the scoring and ice the Wesleyan loss.

At 2-6-4 in league play, the Cardinals (4-12-4, 2-6-4 NESCAC) are now tied with Trinity (4-8-0 NESCAC) for seventh place in the NESCAC standings, two points ahead of the 2-9-1 Camels. The Cardinals will return home this weekend for a series against second-place Bowdoin, while Trinity will play fourth-place Hamilton twice in Hartford.

With only two weeks left in the regular season, Wesleyan will likely need a strong showing this weekend to keep its hopes of seventh place—and the final berth in the NESCAC tournament—alive. The Polar Bears have doubled Wesleyan’s goal total this season (76-38), so the Cardinals’ offense and defense will both need to bring their “A” games.

“To be successful against Bowdoin we will need to be disciplined all over the ice,” Stemerman said.

Despite the Polar Bears’ daunting statistics, the Cards are not intimidated.

“The team is confident going into this weekend,” Stemerman said. “We know we can play with any team.”

The puck will drop at 7 p.m. on Friday, while Saturday’s game will start at 3 p.m.