Shannon Welch/Photo Editor

The women’s field hockey team hosted Little Three rival Amherst this past Saturday, Oct. 20, over Homecoming Weekend. Going into the game, the Cardinals knew the tough competition they would face, as Amherst has bested Wesleyan in their past seven contests. The stakes going into this game were higher than any regular NESCAC game because the winner of this contest would be crowned the Little Three Champion.

“Going into the game we knew what to expect and we were prepared for an intense game,” said captain Tori Redding ’13.

The contest was deadlocked at a scoreless tie for the entire first half. The Cardinals outshot the Lord Jeffs in the first half, 9-4. Despite the continued pressure, the Amherst goaltender was able to turn away all four shots on goal. The Cardinals and Lord Jeffs were almost equal with penalty corners, with Wesleyan taking five and Amherst taking four.

With the first half ending in a scoreless deadlock, the Cardinals turned up their offensive pressure. In the second half, the Cardinals outshot the Lord Jeffs 13-2. Ashley McLaren ’13 led the Wesleyan offense with a game-high of seven shots, while Averill Roberto ’13 accounted for four of her own.

Despite the heavy offensive pressure, the Cardinals were unable to capitalize and with 6:39 left in the contest, the scoring drought ended when Amherst finally snuck a goal past Redding. With just five minutes left in the second half, Wesleyan took two penalty corners from McLaren that caused the goalie to make desperate pad saves. Wesleyan generated a 10-7 margin on penalty corners.

The Amherst goalie kept the Lord Jeffs in the contest, coming up with 11 saves, many in very pivotal moments of the contest. Redding collected two saves in the contest.

Despite the unfortunate 1-0 loss to Amherst, the Cardinals have officially clinched a post-season spot. The regular season ends Wednesday, Oct. 24 when the Cardinals travel to face Trinity. Postseason play will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 27.