The match seemed to be just a formality when both teams stepped on the pitch. One side was already thinking about the next round, simply looking to earn an easy victory and entertain the home crowd. The other was just happy to be alive in tournament play, as the team had snuck into the eighth seed by winning the final match of the regular season.

At the end of 90 minutes the scoreboard read 2-0, but judging by the dead air in the crowd, it was apparent that this was not the result any of the home fans had anticipated. When all was said and done, it was the Wesleyan women’s soccer team that had triumphed over the top-seeded Middlebury Panthers in Vermont.

The Cardinals just barely got into the NESCAC playoffs on the last day of the regular season. An emphatic 2-0 victory at Trinity, along with a Colby win against Bates, provided the window of opportunity for Wesleyan. However, as the eighth seed squaring up against a nationally ranked Middlebury squad that held the best record in the ’Cac, the Cards were expected to make an early exit like most would-be underdogs who crumble under pressure. But determined to prolong their charmed season for as long as they could, the Cardinals willed out an inspired victory in enemy territory.

The Cardinals held a 6-7-1 overall record on the year and desperately hoped to return to the NESCAC semis for a second straight year, but they had quite the roadblock in the form of the Panthers. Wes drew first blood in just the third minute of the match, which forcefully alerted their opponents that this wasn’t the same Cardinal squad they had defeated 2-1 in the regular season. After being awarded a free kick due to Middlebury misconduct, the Cards once again put their set pieces to the test. In past weeks, the set piece play calling had been a renewable source of goals for Wes thanks in large part to corner and free kick specialist Kerry Doyle ’14. Doyle delivered yet again with a bending serve from the right side that landed in front of the Middlebury net. Racing onto the ball was Isabel Clements ’16, who scored the hustle goal with a header and put Wes in the lead 1-0.

Though they were leading, the Cards were still not in a favorable position. They had awoken the dormant Middlebury offense and sent the hosts into a frenzy. The only way to maintain the lead was to stay error-free. The talented Panthers could and would easily dominate the possession game and keep pressure on the Wesleyan net; the Cardinals anticipated this attack and evaded any major defensive mishaps.

The combined effort from keepers Jess Tollman ’15 and Rachel Hobert ’16 and an ironclad defense maintained the shutout for the Cards. On the day, the keepers combined to save eight shots on target from a total of 22 shots from the opposing side. The dirty work of tenaciously defending the Wesleyan goal for over an hour was rewarded in the 80th minute when quad-captain Laura Kurash ’13 tagged on a second goal to ensure victory. The brilliant counterattack was spearheaded by fellow senior Kaitlyn Berger, and culminated in Cap’n Kurash’s ninth strike of her senior campaign. A Wes win just wouldn’t be the same without a mark from the team’s leading scorer. The Panthers managed a few more daring attempts in the final 10 of the match, but when the last whistle blew, Wes remained unscathed.

Next, the Cardinals face a task just as daunting but with the potential to be doubly gratifying. In the semifinals this Saturday, the Cardinals will face Williams and attempt to get some payback on the rival Little Three squad. A victory against the Ephs would erase any memory of the Cards in season loss and would mean a chance for NESCAC supremacy against either Bowdoin or Amherst.