The women’s ice hockey team closed out its first-semester action on Wednesday night with a tough 3-2 loss to the Holy Cross College Crusaders. The loss concludes a disappointing first part of the season for the Cardinals, who finish the stretch at 1-6.

“The game against Holy Cross was really disapointing,” said Adrienne Shea ’08. “Conn. College had already beaten them 8-1, so we had a great opportunity to show our strength. Unfortunately, we came out flat.”

After skating even in the first period, Holy Cross was finally able to open the scoring early in the second. However, Wesleyan was able to bounce back quickly and tie the game on a goal by Jess Fischer ’08, her first tally of the year. With the score knotted at two late in the second period, Holy Cross was again able to find the back of the net and head into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Entering the third period down by one goal, the Cardinals began to apply pressure to the Crusaders, but were unable to find the net. With Wesleyan trailing 2-1 midway through the final period, the Crusaders were again able to score, tallying the eventual game-winner by increasing their lead to 3-1.

The Cards did not give up, however, and kept the pressure on until the final whistle. With the period winding down, Shea was able to light the lamp with a nice goal on assists from Amanda Nickels ’08 and Conner Brannen ’10.

Wesleyan, now down by only one goal, pulled goaltender Rachel Stemerman ’09 for an extra skater in the final minutes of the game. Unfortunately, the Cards were unable to make a tying goal in the frantic final minutes, reaching the final score of 3-2.

The same troubles seemed to surface for the Cardinals that have plagued them all season, as they were out-shot again, this time by a 28-18 margin. This marks the sixth time in seven games this year that Wesleyan was beaten in this crucial category.

The team also seems to fall behind its opponents early, which forces it to play from behind for much of the game. It has failed to score the first goal five times out of seven this season.

“The team is still very positive and we have a lot more talent than we showed,” Shea said. “But it is still disapointing to go into the break after a loss like that.”

Perhaps the one positive note from the early season stretch has been the play from the defense and goalie. Wednesday’s game was no exception. Stemerman again played well, stopping 25 of 28 shots that she faced. She was recently named NESCAC Player of the Week for the third time in her career, rewarding last week’s outstanding performances against powerhouse Utica College. Over the two-game stretch, Stemerman has made an amazing 89 saves, sporting a stellar .978 goals against average.

The Cardinals now have five weeks off to regroup, before they will look to turn a new leaf for the second half of the semester and get the season back on track. The second half kicks off at home on Jan. 8 as the Cardinals face off against Salve Regina.