The women’s ice hockey team had an impressive 2-0 week, with a win over Division I rival Sacred Heart on Tuesday, followed by a weekend victory over Nichols College this past Saturday. Coming off a couple of tough road losses to NESCAC rivals Colby and Bowdoin last weekend, the Cardinals were able to rebound nicely and have their first winning streak of the season.

“We had a disappointing weekend in Maine,” said Adrienne Shea ’08. “We had two great opportunities to gain a NESCAC win and unfortunately just couldn’t put it together. On the upside, one of our great games was last Tuesday against Sacred Heart.”

The game against Sacred Heart did not start in a promising way, as the Pioneers took the lead just 13 seconds into the contest. However, the Cardinals were able to settle in and tie the score as Emily Avener ’09 found the net for her second tally of the year.

The deadlock that started the second period did not last long as the Cardinals were able to climb ahead 2-1 on a nice goal from Heather Lindgren ’11 just three minutes into the period. Seven minutes later, the Cardinals jumped ahead 3-1 on Shea’s third goal of the year.

The Cardinals opted to keep the pressure on in the third period, despite having a two-goal advantage. The lead extended to 4-1 midway through the stanza on a goal by Julia Heffelfinger ’11, her first collegiate tally. The Pioneers were able to find the net again late, but the contest was never in question, and the Cardinals won 4-2.

Rachel Stemerman ’09 played a solid game in net, turning away 26 of 28 shots on cage, to cap a solid defensive effort for the Cardinals.

“Our defense was solid on the blue line and breaking the puck out well,” Shea said. “Stem [Stemerman] was amazing in net as usual—it was a very satisfying team win.”

The Cardinals were able to carry the momentum into the weekend, earning a 3-1 win in an exhibition game against Nichols College, a team that will go to varsity next year.

Wesleyan started the scoring on a shorthanded goal from Jessica Fischer ’08. Nichols was able to tie the score late in the first, and the teams entered the locker rooms knotted at one.

After killing off two penalties to start the second, the Cardinals were again able to take the lead on a goal by Sena Ito ’11. The score remained unchanged until the third period, when Avener found the back of the net to increase Wesleyan’s lead to 3-1, the contest’s final score. Alix Strasnick ’10 got the call between the pipes for Wesleyan, and played well, making 18 saves in the contest.

“Although Nichols was not our best game, we played well enough to win,” Shea said. “Alix played the whole game in net and made some really great saves, and even though it wasn’t our best, a win is a win.”

Coming off a 2-0 week, the Cardinals will jump back into NESCAC play for two road games this week. The first of those is this Wednesday at Connecticut College, followed by a weekend tilt at Amherst on Saturday. The NESCAC has not been kind to the Cardinals so far this season, as they have been plagued by inconsistent play.

“It’s been really frustrating because we haven’t shown the NESCAC what we’re capable of,” Shea said. “We’ll play great periods, but have yet to play a great game. Consistency has been our problem.”

The Cardinals will look to remedy this problem and get their first NESCAC win this Wednesday in New London. Puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.