After Evan Hazelett ’13 cleanly deposited his overtime winner against the Bowdoin Polar Bears, anyone who attended the women’s game the day before must have thought that they were experiencing déjà vu. A full day before the men would upset nationally-ranked Bowdoin in overtime, the same fate was inflicted on the Lady Polar Bears. Thanks in large part to goals by quad-captains Laura Kurash ’13 and Emma Nitzberg ’12, the women’s soccer team gave the visiting Polar Bears their first defeat of the weekend, and set the trend for what amounted to a very successful weekend for Wesleyan soccer.

The Saturday game was expected to be a close one from the beginning. Wesleyan and Bowdoin finished last year’s regular seasons in fifth and sixth place, respectively, and the two evenly matched teams both went on to disappointing playoff results, each bowing out in the first round. As a result, both teams came into this season looking to prove that they are not simply middle-of-the-pack teams. In order to do that, the two would have to put on convincing displays to show the other teams in the conference that they meant business.

Luckily for those of us here in Middletown and much to the chagrin of our neighbors in the arctic north, Wesleyan did just that. The Cardinals controlled the pace of the game throughout, unleashing a barrage of shots that nearly tripled the number Bowdoin was able to get off (24 to 9). This methodical play was especially evident in the first half, in which the girls at home churned out 14 shots to the visitors’ two.

About 25 minutes into this onslaught, Kurash uncorked a banger that left Bowdoin keeper Louise Johnson with no choice but to parry it. Unfortunately for Johnson the ball was deflected towards Wesleyan forward Nitzberg, who tucked it neatly into the back of the net.

The second half saw possession tilt slightly more in Bowdoin’s favor, and the Polar Bears took advantage of that. In the 53rd minute, Bowdoin’s Ellery Gould managed to beat Wesleyan keeper Jessica Tollman ’15 for the equalizer. It would prove to be the last time that the ball would see the back of Wesleyan’s net.

The rest of the second half continued with both teams providing chances to one another and neither team being able to finish. However, once the game entered the golden goal overtime stage, Wesleyan needed only one opportunity to put away the visiting Bowdoin squad. Two minutes into the first overtime period, Kerry Doyle ’14 passed the ball to Amy Toig ’14, who immediately sent it spinning towards the feet of captain Kurash. The rest, as they say, is history. The captain and leading scorer from last year sent the ball into the net with ease, capping off an important home opener in victorious fashion.

The result was exactly what the Cardinals were looking for as they hope to rise up from the middle of the NESCAC and possibly compete for some home field games in the playoffs. The Cards are next in action on Wednesday at home against Eastern Connecticut State, and then exactly a week after their defeat of Bowdoin, they return to conference play away against Tufts.