After defeating Bowdoin College 3-2 on Saturday in overtime to clinch a first round home playoff game in the NESCAC tournament, the Cards had their ten-game winning streak snapped on Sunday by the same Bowdoin squad. The early exit from the NESCAC tournament could spell the end to the Cards’ 2007 season, as their hopes at a NCAA tournament appearance rest with the NCAA selection committee. If the Cards do receive an at-large bid, it would be the third straight year they reached the NCAA tournament and the second straight after first round NESCAC tournament exits.

Wesleyan and Bowdoin faced off in Maine on Saturday in the regular season finale, a game that was won on a beautiful header goal by Jory Kahan ’10 who finished a perfect corner kick from Justin Mello ’08.

The winning goal came six minutes into overtime, after the Cards tied the game at two in the 70th minute on a goal by Nick Whipple ’10.

The Cardinals displayed the same resilience they showed at Amherst a week earlier, as they twice came back from two one-goal deficits to send the game into overtime. Keisuke Yamashita ’10 scored his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at one in the 28th minute after Bowdoin took the early lead with a tally from NESCAC leading scorer Nick Figueiredo.

With the win on Saturday the Cards earned the fourth seed in the NESCAC tournament and traveled home to host the Polar Bears the following day on Jackson Field.

The Cards entered Sunday’s NESCAC tournament as the hottest team in the conference, winning ten straight games including one over previously undefeated Amherst College last Saturday.

Jamie Hiteshew ’08 got the start on Sunday after tri-captain Matt Gnall ’08 made eight saves, including three pointblank decisive saves in a driving rain, in the win the previous day. The two seniors provided back-to-back stellar efforts, just as they did all season long, with Hiteshew making six huge saves on Sunday to keep the Cardinals in it all game.

Figueiredo played a hand in both of Bowdoin’s goals on Sunday. After a scoreless first half, Bowdoin’s Denton-Schneider scored his third goal of the season to break the deadlock. He finished off of a rebound after Hiteshew made a great save on a shot from Figueiredo who was in on a partial breakaway.

It was a back and forth second half with both teams producing good offensive opportunities. Wesleyan had a lot of nice combinations passing between Mello and Whipple on the left wing, but was unable to find the back of the net.

Bowdoin scored the game’s second goal in the 69th minute when Figueiredo fed Denton-Schneider a beautiful through ball at the top of the box. Denton-Schneider shot it past a diving Hiteshew and the Polar Bears were up 2-0.

Despite a furious effort in the final minutes, Wesleyan’s winning streak was broken. The team just couldn’t piece together the passes to create solid scoring chances. A few saves by Hiteshew kept the score at 2-0 at the game’s final whistle.

Wesleyan came into the season with high aspirations but got off to a slow start with four straight losses. Their fourth loss on Sept. 22 was the final time the Cards would lose for over a month as they went on an unbelievable streak to win ten straight games, with five in a row by shutout.

“Obviously, the entire team is disappointed with how this weekend turned out,” Hiteshew said. “We all entered this weekend expecting to win both games, but the bounces just didn’t go our way yesterday. Credit goes to Figueiredo, who showed why he’s probably the most feared striker in the conference in both games.”

Hiteshew expressed hope that the selection committee will look kindly on the team and give them a chance to play for the national championship.

“I know we all feel like we deserve one more shot,” he said.

Hiteshew and Gnall split time in goal all season and both finished their senior campaigns ranked in the top ten in every major conference goaltender statistic. Currently, Hiteshew ranks third in goals against average and second in save percentage, while Gnall sits at eighth and ninth in the same categories.

Sunday’s loss eliminated the Cards from NESCAC tournament play and squashed their chance to recieve the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Wesleyan’s hope for a third straight NCAA tournament appearance hinges on the NCAA selection committee, which will decide which teams deserve the at-large bids to the 2007 NCAA tournament. Those tournament selections will be announced Sunday, Nov. 5.