The womens lacrosse team kicked off its season on March 6 with a 16-10 victory over Eastern Connecticut on Smith Field, and then traveled to West Palm Beach, Fla., to take part in the annual Spring Fling Womenss Lacrosse Tournament. The team went 1-2 in the tournament and scored an impressive 13-12 overtime win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the two schoolss second-ever meeting. Upon returning from the trip the Cards started league play at Bowdoin on March 13 with a double-overtime loss, as they fell 13-12. The Cardinals then took on Middlebury on March 20, dropping the contest 14-7. Despite starting the season 2-4, the team, which has made the NESCAC postseason tournament 7 years in a row dating back to 2003, appears to have good prospects for the rest of the season and should be competitive in the NESCAC come tournament time.

The Cardinals were 2-2 when they traveled to Brunswick, Maine, to take on the Polar Bears in what was Bowdoin s first game of the season. The Cardinals had experience with this team, after defeating them 8-7 in last yearss season opener, and looked to replicate that success. However, the Cardinals came out flat-footed in the match, falling behind 8-3 by the end of the first half after an impressive scoring onslaught by the Polar Bears. In the second the goal differential was flipped, as the Cardinals tallied eight goals to Bowdoinss three to send the game into overtime. In the six-minute overtime the Bears struck first, scoring with a mere 46 seconds left in the period. With time running out, Catherine Taibi ’13 caught a pass from Allie Lynch ’11 and rocketed it into the back of the net with 11 seconds left to force the game into a sudden-death second overtime period. Unfortunately for Wes, Bowdoin found the back of the net first, ending the hard-fought match 13-12. Jess Chukwu ’11 led the Cardinals in the scoring column with four goals, and Lydia Kring ’13 added a hat-trick for the visitors.

The last three meetings between the teams have been decided by a single goal, and the NESCAC rivals have split their last four games overall. Bowdoin had won 13 straight against the Cardinals before Wesleyan earned a 10-8 overtime win in 2007.

The teamss next match was on March 20 against Middlebury, a foe that Wesleyan had never defeated in nine prior tries and which did not lose a NESCAC game until the 2008 regular-season finale, dating back to the establishment of NESCAC play. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the streak has now hit ten games, as Middlebury felled the Cardinals 14-7. Chukwu netted another hat trick for Wesleyan, giving her three on the season and two in two games against NESCAC opponents.

The Cardinals’ next match is against Bates on Saturday, as the Cardinals will try to earn their first NESCAC win of the season against the Bobcats.