After 100 minutes and 17 penalty strokes, the outcome of Wesleyan’s field hockey game on Saturday, came down to one save. Wesleyan had scored twice in the second set of penalty strokes, and goalie Tori Redding ’13 would earn the Cards a hard-fought victory over visiting Bowdoin with one more save. Polar Bear senior Kara Kelley stepped up and took the shot but couldn’t get it past Redding, giving Wesleyan a 3-2 victory over the two-time defending national champions.

Wesleyan had not defeated Bowdoin since 2004 but took the Polar Bears down to the wire last season, surrendering the only goal in a 1-0 defeat with 13 seconds left to play. In that contest Bowdoin outshot the Cardinals 36-0 and took 25 penalty corners to the Cardinals’ none. Bowdoin held a 23-8 advantage in shots on Saturday and took the lead with under five minutes remaining, but the Cardinals twice rallied to tie the game and send it into overtime.

After a scoreless first half in which Redding made five of her career-high 18 saves, Bowdoin jumped on the board first, scoring 8:40 into the second frame. Wesleyan tied the game 15 minutes later, however, on leading scorer Morgan McCauley’s ’12 sixth goal, off a feed from Liz Chabot ’12. Bowdoin moved back ahead with 4:45 left to play, but Ashley McLaren ’13 netted her second goal with 2:20 left in the contest to again tie the game.

Bowdoin held an 8-2 edge in shots in the extra 30 minutes—including 4-0 in the second overtime—but seven saves by Redding kept the game tied, sending it to penalty strokes. McLaren and McCauley scored for Wesleyan in the first set, and Wesleyan held a 2-1 lead after four strokes. But Bowdoin, which shot first, found the back of the net on its fifth and final stroke to send the stroke-off into a second set. McLaren and Chabot recorded tallies for Wesleyan in the second, decisive set.

With the win, Wesleyan improved to 4-5 overall and earned its first win in NESCAC play (1-5). The Cardinals also snapped a five-game losing streak against Bowdoin, which has gone a combined 46-5 over the past three seasons. Wesleyan had been outscored 15-1 over the five losses, with the last four meetings ending in shutouts.

Earlier in the week, Wesleyan hosted Eastern Connecticut State on Thursday night and rolled to a 3-0 victory. Chabot and McCauley scored in a span of 3:33 in the first half for a 2-0 halftime lead, and Taryn Murray ’13 made it 3-0 with 9:08 left. Wesleyan held a 23-2 edge in shots and took nine corners to the Warriors’ one, and Redding, who ranks third in the NESCAC in saved per game with 8.67, made a pair of stops for her first shutout.

Wesleyan hits the field again next Saturday against Bates in its final regular-season home game. The Cardinals will look to improve to 8-2 all-time against the Bobcats and improve their position in the NESCAC standings as they look to qualify for the conference tournament for the ninth time in 10 years.