Despite outplaying the defending NESCAC champion Middlebury Panthers for much of Saturday’s game, the Wesleyan field hockey team was ultimately defeated by a margin of 3-1.
The Panthers, who came into the contest ranked second nationally, won last season’s match up by a score of 6-0 and were expected to prevail by a similar measure on Saturday. The Cardinals, however, had other plans for the perennial DIII powerhouse, as they played an outstanding first half and ceded nothing to the Panthers. Ten minutes into the game, Cortney Tetrault ’07 put the Cardinals out to an early lead when she connected on a reverse stick shot off of an assist from Liz Dee ’06. Wesleyan then continued to outperform the Middlebury squad, holding them scoreless until the Panthers connected with zero seconds remaining in the first half.
Middlebury’s last-second goal left the score knotted at 1-1 going into halftime, but the Cardinals maintained their impressive effort into the second period and contained the defending conference champions until the Panthers scored again with 16:30 remaining. With Middlebury leading 2-1, the Cardinals continued to apply offensive pressure but were unable to score. The Panthers then received their second last-minute goal of the game as they connected with just seven seconds remaining, leaving the final score at 3-1.
While this loss certainly was a tough one for the Cardinals, they aren’t dissatisfied with their own performance. “Sometimes you can truly play a great game and still lose,” said Tetrault.
On Wednesday the Cardinals will look to improve their 2-2 record when they face Wheaton College in their third away game of the season. Currently the Cardinals are undefeated on the road, and last season they destroyed Wheaton by a score of 9-1.
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