The field hockey team suffered a tough 2-0 defeat to NESCAC rival Williams this past Saturday, Oct. 12, which also ended Wesleyan’s two-game winning streak. With the loss, the Cardinals remain fifth in the NESCAC standings with an in-conference record of 3-3, while Williams moves into eighth with a NESCAC record of 2-5.
“We didn’t play as well as a team against Williams as we have in the past,” said Captain Blair Ingraham ’14. “We weren’t connecting well and had a hard time getting into a groove.”
Throughout most of the game, the Ephs limited the Cardinals’ offensive chances and held the overmatched Birds to only two shots on goal.
“I felt we were a little bit one step behind the play on dodging, on self-starts, on passing, and we needed to utilize our strength, which I feel is our speed and quickness,” said Head Coach Patti Klecha-Porter. “I felt we were a little bit on our heels, kind of watching Williams first and then deciding to play.”
Klecha-Porter believes that the team could have given Williams a better game. The Cardinals stepped up the intensity to challenge the Ephs in the final minutes of the match, but it proved to be too little too late.
“So for probably the last 17 minutes that was a huge difference,” Klecha-Porter said. “We were finally attacking, but we were down two goals and in a deficit, and it’s hard to rebound from that.”
The Ephs outshot the hosts 16-7, while the Cardinals had just four penalty corners, half as many as Williams did. Goalie Sara Grundy ’16 came up with nine saves, but the Cardinals failed to give her any offensive support.
“We hope to never experience a disappointing loss like that again,” Ingraham said. “We let Williams set the pace, and they did a great job of maintaining it throughout the game.”
As the team readies for its upcoming away game against UMass Dartmouth on Thursday, Oct. 17, Ingraham highlighted what the team needs to work on.
“Teamwork and communication,” Ingraham said. “We want to do a better job of communicating with each other on the field and work together to maintain composure and momentum for we hope to be able to set the pace for the rest of our games this season.”
After the game, Klecha-Porter commented on what will happen between now and Thursday.
“We are going to do a self-assessment,” Klecha-Porter said. “We are really going to be looking at and trying to figure out what are the reasons [for this loss] because this group definitely has the skills and the ability to be a top-notch, top-four team, so we are going to be looking at that this week.”
With five games left, four of which are conference tilts, including match-ups with first-place Amherst and fourth-place Middlebury, the Cardinals are looking to finish the season off strong as they keep their minds set on a run at the NESCAC Championship.