The Wesleyan women’s ice hockey team slid into action this winter season with four games against top NESCAC competitors. The squad opened up with back-to-back games against the Amherst Lord Jeffs two weekends ago and then took on the Conn. Coll. Camels and Hamilton College Continentals this past weekend. The Lady Cards were unable to come away with any wins, but remain enthusiastic about the upcoming season.

In Amherst, Mass., the Cardinals faced off against a NESCAC powerhouse, the Amherst College Lord Jeffs. The Lord Jeffs took an early 2-0 lead just minutes after the puck was dropped, but Wesleyan regained its composure and held strong throughout the rest of the first period. The cardinal defense, with the help of tender Ashleigh Corvi ’13, put up a strong wall and prevented any further goal scoring. In the second period, the Cards were unable to keep up their original defensive momentum and offensive drive, and let the Lord Jeffs take control of the game. The Jeffs scored a quick three goals, raising the score to 5-0. The Cardinals were once again able to settle down in the third period, but struggled to generate any offensive activity and only managed to take a single shot on goal during the entire period. The Lord Jeffs took advantage of Wesleyan’s breakdown, and continued to fire shots on the Cardinal net, sniping another two goals before the clock ran out. The game finished in a final 7-0 victory for Amherst.

The Cards were back at it again the next day for a second matchup against the Lord Jeffs. Entering into the game with a hope for vengeance, the Cardinals were determined to put up a stronger fight this time around. While Amherst fired an impressive 30 shots on net in the first period alone, Wesleyan held strong and refused to let the Lord Jeffs score. Between the pipes, Corvi fended off every shot, holding the score at 0-0 for the first twenty minutes. Corvi would go on to amount a record breaking total of 70 saves throughout the rest of the game. Unfortunately, in the second period, the Lord Jeffs broke down Wesleyan’s defensive wall, and scored three goals in just fifteen minutes. The Lord Jeff’s momentum carried over into the third period, as they took down another two goals, ending the game with another 5-0 triumph over the Cards.

Despite the back-to-back losses to Amherst, the Lady Cards were able to look on the bright side of things.

“I think we competed with them in both games although the scores don’t necessarily show that,” said captain Jill Reynolds ’12. “In the first period of the second game we were able to hold them to zero-zero because of unbelievable goaltending and hard work. We were able to learn and improve from both games and are excited about the potential that we have for this season.”

Two weekends later, the Cards regained their composure and turned their focus to their next competitor, the Conn. College Camels.

On Saturday, Nov. 27, the Cards hosted the Camels at the Spurrier-Snyder rink for a home opener. Both teams evenly battled it out for the first twenty minutes and the score remained 0-0. In the second period, the Camels scored 2 goals during a power play early on and then took down a third goal later on in the period, advancing their lead to 3-0. Power forward, M.J. Cardin ’12, scored at 13:04 in the second, but this was Wesleyan’s only successful attempt at tying up the score. Despite Corvi’s 40 saves throughout the game, the Cards ultimately fell 3-1 to the Camels.

“We gave Conn. Coll. too many power play opportunities,” said Jaime Bonner ’12. “They capitalized on almost every chance they got and so they were able to take a three goal lead against us, which put us in a tough position going into the third period.”

Against Hamilton on Sunday, Nov. 28, Wesleyan was looking to end a seven-game losing skid to the Continentals, but Hamilton was not willing to let this happen. The Continentals scored a goal each period to defeat the Cards 3-0 and extend their winning streak to eight games. Corvi added 37 saves to her totals.

“We went into the game knowing that Hamilton had similar stats to us and that they were looking for a win, too,” Bonner said. “Once again, Hamilton had key power play opportunities which helped them notch a few goals against us, and so we were behind for the rest of the game. I think that in the future, we need to learn to play aggressively without taking penalties.

“Overall, we played against both Conn. and Hamilton with much more confidence than we had against Amherst the week before, so I think that we can only get better from here on out.”

Although the Lady Cards are not where they would like to be quite yet, they remain positive and enthusiastic about their overall potential for this season. With playoff hopes in mind, the Cards will be working hard towards achieving a winning season.

The Cardinals’ next match up is against out of conference opponent, the Holy Cross Crusaders on Tuesday, Nov. 30 in Worcester, Mass.