On Wednesday, April 24, women’s lacrosse closed out its 2013 season with an exciting win against Conn College at home. This victory over a solid 16-9 Camel squad was the culmination of the Cardinals’ season and was a testament to the team’s hard work and dedication. The Cardinals are now 16-22 all-time against the Conn College Camels, which is Wesleyan’s best record against any NESCAC competitor.

Playing with home-field advantage on a beautiful spring afternoon, the Cardinals took an early lead. One of the team’s most consistent players throughout the season, Kayla Ellman ’13, took control of the game seconds after the first draw control, scoring two unassisted goals in as many minutes. Six minutes later, Caitlin Daniels ’15 put one over the shoulder of the Conn College keeper, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead at 22:10. Though Conn College responded to get on the board, Ellman quickly answered the Camels with her third goal of the match, putting Wesleyan ahead 3-1 halfway into the first period.

At 9:51, another Wesleyan standout senior, Kaylin Berger, scored her first goal of the match, which gave the Cardinals a 5-2 advantage. Emily Gretsky ’16 then netted her first career goal, a swift shot through the five-hole of the Conn College goalie. Ellman’s fourth goal at 1:57 closed out scoring for the first period, leaving the Cardinals with a 7-4 advantage at the half.

Conn College rallied a bit -at the beginning of the second period, scoring the half’s first two goals, which brought the tally to 7-6. Wes pushed back after that with success on free shots, as Audrey Le ’15 scored and Berger netted two more goals from that position to give the team a 10-6 edge.

At 19:04, Wesleyan kept pouring it on during a power-play opportunity. Leah Sherman ’15 made a swift pass to Lydia Kring ’13, who then took the ball to the net, scoring her first goal of the match. Within the next seven minutes, a pair of goals by Berger and Isabelle King ’16 brought the Cardinals to a 13-7 advantage, their greatest margin thus far in the match. After another goal by the Camels, Kring once again brought the cushion back up to six with her second goal of the match on a free shot position. Kring led the Cardinals for the rest of the match, scoring the final two goals in the 16-9 victory.

This win against Conn College marked both the first NESCAC victory for the Cardinals this spring and the end of their season play. Unfortunately, the team’s 1-9 conference record was not good enough to qualify it for the NESCAC postseason tournament.

The Cardinals had several standout players this season. Freshman goalie Nina Labovich played all 900 minutes of game time this season, quite an achievement for a novice goalie. She had a total of 124 saves this 2013 season. Her total percentage for the season is a solid .423.

Berger led the team this season with 29 goals and 35 points. Her career total of 108 points places her in the top 10 of all-time Cardinal women’s lacrosse scorers, a truly commendable achievement. Ellman is right behind her in scoring with 24 goals and four assists this season, giving her a total of 28 season points. Ellman’s career total of 107 points places her at 11th on the list of all-time Cardinal scorers.

Kring also closed out her Wesleyan career strong, finishing as the third-highest Cardinal scorer for the 2013 season. Her season total of 14 goals and six assists gives her a solid 20 points.

Underclassmen who had strong seasons in 2013 include Daniels, Le, King, Sherman, Maddy Coulter ’14, Abby D’Angelo ’14, Hannah Plappert ’16, and Martha Harding ’16. After closing out the season with a record of 1-9 in the NESCAC and 5-10 in overall play—the exact same record with which it ended the 2012 season, the team will surely look to these players next year to lead the way.