The field hockey team improved to 2-3 on the season with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Wheaton College on Wednesday. Morgan McCauley ’12 netted a pair of goals for Wesleyan, and goalkeeper Tori Redding ’13 stopped four Wheaton shots to make it stand up. The win was Wesleyan’s first against the Lyons since 2005, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Wesleyan wasted no time jumping in front as McCauley scored off a rebound 6:35 into the contest for a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals outshot the Lyons 11-2 in the first half, but six saves by the Wheaton goalie kept it a 1-0 game at halftime. Wesleyan made it 2-0 6:20 into the second half off another unassisted tally by McCauley, who dodged a Lyon defender and fired the ball into the net. Wheaton halved the Cardinals’ lead with a goal in the 57th minute but got no closer as Redding made three of her four saves in the second half.

Wesleyan held a 21-8 edge in shots overall, and the Cardinals took nine corners to Wheaton’s four (including a 7-3 margin in the second half). The last five games between the teams have been decided by one goal, following a 9-1 Wesleyan victory in 2004.

The Cardinals have a pair of tough tests this weekend, beginning with a game at sixth-in-the-nation Trinity on Friday evening. The team then travels to perennial power Middlebury on Sunday for a 2:00 game.