In the last game of the regular season, the field hockey team travelled to intrastate NESCAC rival Connecticut College and came away with a 3-1 victory, heading into postseason play with an overall record of 6-8 and an in-conference tally of 4-6.
The Cardinals put pressure on early, putting two shots in the back of the net within a 10-minute span. They maintained a tenacious defense throughout the contest, and emerged victorious. They now prepare for the tough competition ahead.
“We made it our team goal to come out strong and set the pace of the game,” said Captain Blair Ingraham ’14, who got the scoring started for the Cardinals. “Scoring first allowed us to do so, and we were determined to maintain the lead.”
With fewer than five minutes remaining in the first half, the Camels cut the deficit in half. However, that was the only goal given up by Sara Grundy ’16, who recorded five saves. The Cardinal defense was disciplined throughout the game, only allowing the Camels seven penalty corners compared to 14 from the Cardinals. Alyssa Murray ’16 gave the Cardinals some breathing room in the 64th minute, scoring her first goal of the season and extending the Wes lead to two. The offense constantly put pressure on the Camels’ defense by putting 16 shots on goal. As the score shows, it paid off. The loss puts the Camels’ NESCAC record at 1-9; their season comes to an end without a playoff berth.
The Cardinals, who are the eighth seed in the NESCAC tournament, will travel this Saturday, Nov. 2 to face top-seeded Amherst. Wesleyan fell to the Lord Jeffs on the road earlier in an offense-heavy game. Despite the result when the team last faced Amherst, the Cardinals look to carry their momentum from the victory over Conn deep into the tournament.
“I think this game allowed us to work on skills that we need to perfect against Amherst on Saturday,” Ingraham said. “We scored off of two corners, which is something we’ve been working hard to do, and we need to take that into the playoffs.”
The Lord Jeffs, which are currently ranked seventh in Division III, will be tough competition for the Cardinals.
“Amherst is a very strong team, and we expect them to come out with its A game on Saturday,” Ingraham said. “We put up a great fight against them last game, and we can be sure that they will come out stronger than they did earlier this month.”
When the two teams met earlier this season, the Cardinals led the Lord Jeffs 2-1 at the end of the first half, but the Amherst squad came out strong in the second half. The Jeffs scored three goals within 10 minutes to take the lead and hold on for the 4-3 win. Playing on the road at the number-one seed’s home field will require a high level of intensity and focus from all the Cardinal players.
“We let Amherst come back on us last time, and we can’t let them do that to us on Saturday,” Ingraham said. “We have to take the lead and maintain it for 70 minutes.”
Despite the fact that the Cardinals are the underdogs in this first-round matchup of the single elimination tournament, they feel they are up for the challenge and hope to snap Amherst’s six-game winning streak.
“This weekend is do or die for us, and we have to have confidence in ourselves that we can knock off the top team,” Ingraham said. “We have to come out with fire just like the last time we played them and get on the scoreboard first.”