c/o Brian Katten

After a rough start at Hamilton, the field hockey team came roaring back with a strong 4-3 win over the Continentals. Wesleyan improves to a 3-4 on season while getting back to .500 at 2-2 in the NESCAC.
The Cardinals fell into a 2-0 hole during the first 20 minutes of the game, but fought to stay alive in the contest and jumped ahead with three unanswered goals. Michaela Celella ’16 cut the Continentals’ lead in half with less than two minutes to go in the first half. The Cardinals came out fast in the second half, as Captain Blair Ingraham ’14 scored less than five minutes in to tie up the score at two.
Less than ten minutes later, Hannah Plappert ’16 gave the Cardinals the lead, but the Cardinals would not hold on for long. The Continentals fought back and tied the score at three with over 20 minutes to play. Once again, Plappert came to the rescue; with nine and a half minutes left in the game, she scored the deciding goal to put Wes ahead for good at 4-3.
The win is monumental for the Cardinals moving forward. Not only did it push them up in the NESCAC standings, but it was the team’s first away win and first comeback win of the season. It showed that the field hockey team is on the rise as it heads into the second half of the season.
“The team has high expectations for our success, and so far I’d say we’re doing pretty well,” Ingraham said. “I know we always want to win all of our non-league games, and even though we haven’t, all of those games have been hard fought battles, and we’ve learned a lot from them.”
Ingraham leads the team with nine points, followed closely by fellow captain Amber Bruckner ’14 with six. Sara Grundy ’16 has made 45 saves on the season, giving her a save percentage of .776.
“We have great team chemistry and have really improved on working together on the field,” Ingraham said. “I’ve seen such a great improvement in our passing and movement on the field since preseason, and I’m really excited for us to continue to improve.”
As the Cards get set for the second halfof the season, Ingraham touched on a few parts of their game that need improvement.
“We need to come out stronger at the start of every game and set the pace,” Ingraham said. “We’ve let some other teams set the pace of the game and have found ourselves playing catch up. We need to continue to give more effort and energy every day.”
The second half of the season looks to be promising. The Cardinals sit tied for sixth in the NESCAC standings with Colby, who Wes will host this Saturday, Oct. 5.
“Our main goal is to win the Little Three and to earn a good seed in the NESCAC playoffs,” Ingraham said. “We need to continue to beat NESCAC teams so we can climb in the standings. Our league this year is very competitive, and any given team can win on any given day.”