Over the weekend the field hockey team took on a pair of nationally ranked NESCAC opponents, Trinity (#6) and Middlebury (#15), but came away empty-handed in both contests to fall to 0-5 in conference play and 2-5 overall this season. Wesleyan held a pair of leads against Trinity, but the Bantams rallied late for a 3-2 overtime victory. Against Middlebury, Wesleyan hung tough, but the Panthers eventually pulled away for a 5-3 win.
On Friday Wesleyan jumped on the board first against Trinity as Liz Chabot ’12 scored off a pass from Lila Creighton ’11 at 19:25. The Bantams, however, tied the game just over five minutes later for a 1-1 halftime deadlock. The Cardinals wasted no time moving back ahead in the second half, as Morgan McCauley ’12 found Alexa David ’10, who scored just 1:48 into the period for a 2-1 lead. Trinity rallied once again, converting a controversial penalty stroke with just under 12 minutes left in the game to send it into overtime. This time, it was the Bantams that drew first blood, as they scored 2:38 into the extra period for the victory, improving to 7-0 on the season.
Trinity held a 26-10 overall advantage in shots, including 10-2 in the first period, but Wesleyan keeper Tori Redding ’13 stopped 13 Trinity shots, and Liz Gauvey-Kern ’11 contributed a pair of saves as well. Two goals or fewer, with the last five decisions coming by one goal, have decided the last 15 games between Wesleyan and Trinity. The Bantams have won three straight games against Wesleyan after losing seven of their previous eight against the Cardinals.
Wesleyan traveled to Middlebury on Sunday and once again jumped on the board first, as Taryn Murray ’13 found the back of the cage at 10:14. But the Panthers tied the score at 19:43 and moved ahead with exactly six minutes to play for a 2-1 lead at halftime. Murray retied the score 5:08 into the second half, but Middlebury moved ahead 3-2 three and a half minutes later. McCauley scored at 54:25 to again even the score, but Middlebury scored just over a minute later for a 4-3 lead it would not relinquish. The Panthers added an insurance tally with five minutes remaining for the 5-3 final and their fourth straight win since starting the season 1-2.
Middlebury held a 20-10 advantage in shots in the contest and took 21 penalty corners to the Cardinals’ six. Redding made 14 saves in the Cardinal net, giving her 44 in her last three NESCAC games. Wesleyan has never won at Middlebury and has dropped 10 in a row to the Panthers, but the Cardinals’ three goals tied a team high for goals scored against Middlebury. Wesleyan also scored three in a 3-2 double-overtime victory over the Panthers on Sept. 30, 2000—the Cardinals’ last win against their NESCAC foe.
Wesleyan will look to get back into the win column on Thursday night, when the Cardinals host Eastern Connecticut under the lights on Smith Field. Wesleyan has prevailed in all five of its contests with the Warriors, including a 2-1 victory in Willimantic in 2008. The Cardinals return to NESCAC action on Saturday, hosting 13th-ranked Bowdoin. Thursday’s game begins at 7 p.m.
Comments are closed