This past Saturday, Feb. 16, women’s hockey took to the ice for the last time this season, taking on Trinity at home. The Cardinals dropped two matches to the Bantams over the weekend, bringing their season record to 6-17 in overall play and 2-14 against NESCAC competitors.
The Cardinals played the first of their two back-to-back games against the Bantams on Friday, Feb. 15. Despite the powerful shooting of their forwards and senior goalie Ashleigh Corvi’s impressive 32 saves, Wesleyan fell to Trinity 4-0.
Saturday’s match proved to be more evenly played, with an equal 24 shots on goal taken by both sides. The Bantams took the early lead, scoring twice within the first 10 minutes of the first period. Jordan Schildhaus ’15 put Wesleyan on the board late in the first period, slamming one through the gloves of the Trinity goalie. Cara Jankowski ’15 and Glenn Hartman-Matson ’14 earned assists on the goal.
Minutes into the second period, Trinity scored again, giving the Bantams a lead of 3-1. Wesleyan fought back within several minutes, as Laura Mead ’16, assisted by Schildhaus and Hartman-Matson, brought the score to 3-2 with a strong slapshot over the shoulder of the Trinity goalie. Unfortunately, the Bantams poured it on, scoring twice more in the third period as Wesleyan dropped its final game 5-2.
This season has proved to be quite a mixed bag for the Cardinals. Despite a less-than-ideal season record, the team has had some outstanding individual performances. Schildhaus ended the season with a team-leading 11 goals and six assists, for a total of seventeen points. Mead and Jankowski both finished with a solid 15 points. The three scored close to half of the team’s goals and assists for the season.
Saturday’s game marked the final time that three Cardinals would put on a Wesleyan uniform. Corvi finished her career with a slew of impressive stats. She played in 81 games in her four years at Wesleyan, totaling 4,695.5 minutes of playing time. She had a remarkable seven games with more than 50 saves and is leaving Wesleyan with a .902 save average and 3.95 saves against goal average.
Also graduating this year are defenseman and captain Becca Koppel ’13 and forward Kelsey Mueller ’13. Koppel ends her collegiate career with eight goals and 10 assists, while Mueller contributed 14 goals and eight assists during her tenure at Wesleyan.
“This team has changed my life,” Koppel noted. “Over these four years, I have found my best friends—all of them teammates on the hockey team. There is a connection there that transcends wins and losses. Over my four years, the team’s record has not been the greatest on paper, but during those years the team has grown immensely.
“In my opinion, playing for this team has taught me more than playing for a winning team would have,” Koppel concluded. “I think the fact that we came out to play every game and left it all on the ice shows the type of team Wesleyan women’s hockey will be remembered as; a team that never gives up, a team that works hard despite skill level, a team that is composed of 21 individuals who function as one seamless unit. I have high hopes for next year and expect the girls to earn a playoff spot come this time next year.”