For most of its history, Wesleyan field hockey has lived in the shadows of its NESCAC rivals. Wins over Amherst, Williams, or Middlebury were long shots at best. This fall, that’s changed. After a rocky start to NESCAC play, the Cardinals found their rhythm, blending senior stability at the back and front with a fearless core of underclassmen in between to put together the most impressive run in program history.
For the third straight season, the Cardinals opened up the season with a matchup against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). They dominated the Engineers, scoring 3 times on 24 shots on goal, while Audrey Pace ’26 only had to face two shots on goal, both of which she turned away. The Red and Black ended their pre-NESCAC slate with two one-goal wins against Vassar College and Union College, with the latter coming via an overtime goal from the stick of Georgia Adams ’26.
“We haven’t really had any turnover in years prior,” Adams said. “We kept a pretty solid group in the grade above us. So we knew it was going to be different heading into the season with a younger team, and there were definitely some adjustments, but the younger girls are so talented and playing much above their years.”
NESCAC play began with a home matchup against the Hamilton Continentals. Meera Patel ’29 netted her first career collegiate goal in the third period, but that was the lone bright spot for the Cards, with the Continentals cruising to a 4–1 victory. Next came Roger Williams University, whom the Cardinals had played and beaten each of the last seven years by a combined score of 27–10. This showdown was a high-scoring affair, featuring goals by both teams in the first, second, and fourth periods, with the difference being a third period goal by Leila Feldman ’28, cementing a 4–3 victory.
The Cards’ next two weekends featured road matchups against two top-ranked NESCAC teams. On Saturday, Sept. 20, they surrendered an early goal to the No. 8 Bates Bobcats, who held on for a 1–0 victory. Next weekend, the team suffered a 4–1 defeat in Medford, Mass., against Tufts. Their 0–3 start to the NESCAC season was the worst start any of the current players have witnessed. The Cardinals fell to No. 17 in the National Division III rankings, with Amherst on the horizon.
“We went into [Amherst] knowing that this was it,” Adams said. “If we lost this game, it was kind of past the point of no return. So this was the first game we went into it being like, ‘We are winning this game, no matter what it takes.’”
On Saturday, Oct. 4, the Cards prevailed in a hard-fought victory over the Mammoths. It was the first time Wesleyan field hockey had beaten the Mammoths since 2005. The turning point came in the third quarter. With prior players gathered on the Hill for Alumni weekend, Patel drove and dished it off to Adams, who slid it past Amherst’s keeper. The Cards’ defense, backed by Pace, was able to keep an astonishing four corners in five minutes to only two shots and zero goals, keeping the sheet clean. Both sides of the ball were able to celebrate, as the clock counted down to a historic 1-0 win.
Emily Smith ’29 kept it simple when discussing the magnitude of the win.
“Finally getting a NESCAC win was honestly just such a big relief,” Smith said. “It gave us a ton of confidence going into our next stretch.”
That confidence was clear in the way the Cards made quick work of Trinity four days later in their fourth midweek game of the season. Early in the second quarter, the Cards broke through with a corner, where Brooke Miner ’28 set up Feldman for a power shot that snuck past the Trinity keeper. Later in the period, Miner again played the role of facilitator, setting up Teddy Tolbert ’28, who snuck it into the cage in a 1v1 with the goalie. The Cards’ pressure was unrelenting, with Patel finishing off the Bantams in the third quarter, her second goal in as many games.
The Cards were finally rolling, but they had their toughest task ahead of them. A grueling road double-header with No. 11 Williams and No. 4 Middlebury awaited. The Cards were on the wrong side of a 13-game streak against the Ephs, with the last six games lost by one goal. Their history against the Panthers was even worse, having never beaten the seven-time reigning champions on the road.
On Saturday, Oct. 11, with the Little Three Championship up for grabs, Williams and Wesleyan were nearly even with one outlier. The Ephs had 10 shots compared to the Cards’ 11, with their 11th putting them on top in the fourth period. A corner was inserted to Smith, who sent the ball to the far post, where Marley Procopio ’29 was waiting to one-time it into the goal. This gave the Cardinals a 1–0 win and a program record three-straight clean sheets for Pace and her impenetrable backline.
Natalie Shaw ’28 spoke on a key turning point for the defense that contributed to this dominant defensive stretch.
“A decisive moment was figuring out our formation because we were doing man-to-man, and in theory that works, but we would all get tentative so [head] coach [Christine Kemp] implemented this new motto: see ball, get ball.” Shaw said.
This win marked the Cardinals’ first Little Three victory since 2003, and their fourth in program history, but celebrations for the Little Three champs could not be long lived as the Cards had to immediately head up north to Middlebury, Vt.
“The Williams game definitely gave us a lot of confidence, but we obviously can’t ignore that it’s Middlebury, the National Champs,” Smith said. “But we also knew that this was more of a low point for them, because they lost to Endicott [College] and Bowdoin, so they’re vulnerable. I had confidence that we could pull something off, and I think that the team also felt that.”
Feel that they did, creating a jaw-dropping double overtime upset to complete the perfect six-point weekend. The Red and Black trailed by one going into halftime, but came out of the locker room storming, outshooting the Panthers 5–1 and recording a 5–0 corner advantage. On the fifth corner, the offense finally clicked, as Tolbert inserted it to Sydney Cameron ’26, who knocked it to Miner, who connected with Smith for the tying goal. Both backlines were in the zone in the fourth quarter, with only one shot let off for both sides, pushing the squads to two 10-minute golden goal overtime periods.
After a scoreless first overtime, Wes left one minute and 23 seconds on the clock for their winner. Kemp had switched Smith to the wing and told her to take a risk. Taking that risk, the first-year ended up losing that ball, but Shaw had her back, intercepting a pass and driving up to goal.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was thinking about ripping it, but I remember hearing Emily being like, ‘Nat, Nat!’ So I just slipped it to her and she got the goal, my queen,” Shaw said with a smile on her face.
Smith’s goal gave the Cardinals a 2–1 double overtime victory, their first win at Middlebury, and their first win against a top-four team in the country. Smith scored or assisted on all three of the Cardinals’ weekend goals, earning her NESCAC Player of the Week and National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division-III National Offensive Player of the Week.
Adams spoke on how impressive Smith’s composure was.
“We were saying to her after the game, we don’t know how she’s so composed,” Adams said. “I remember when we played Middlebury my freshman year, I was physically shaking, I was so nervous.”
“And freshmen stepping up into these roles has been huge all year, but Emily having the confidence to dribble and take a shot in double overtime was insane, and honestly, it takes something that insane to beat Middlebury.”
It was a win not just for the 24 players and five coaches, but also for everyone who has ever been associated with Wesleyan field hockey, something Shaw noted.
“I remember Myla [Stovall ’21], she sent me an email and she was like, ‘I’m so incredibly proud of you guys,”’ Shaw said. “I realized how much it meant to the entirety of the program. They’re all proud of us, and proud of what we’ve accomplished. Because before Kemp’s era, doing things like beating Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury were out of the question.”
Having just played three games in four days and completed the biggest weekend in Wesleyan field hockey history, the team took a day to recover, but then it was back to the grind as it geared up for another top-10 matchup. This one came at home against the Bowdoin Polar Bears. A 12-year losing streak against the Polar Bears was snapped in penalty shootouts in 2023, and after another overtime victory in 2024, the Cardinals were looking to make it three straight wins.
For the second straight game, the Red and Black entered halftime trailing. Adams was able to even the score at 2–2 a minute into the second half. Still tied with under 10 minutes remaining, Smith once again played the role of facilitator, hooking up with Miner to put Wes in front. Three minutes later, Patel provided an insurance goal, with Smith dishing out her third second-half assist. With this win, the Cardinals replaced Bowdoin as the No. 8 ranked team in the country, their highest mark in program history.
An out-of-conference matchup against Western New England University followed, with Pace and the defense returning to their shutout ways. The offense also did its part, firing an absurd 13 shots in the first period. Although none of them found the goal, Adams did in each of the following two periods to give the Cards a stress-free 2–0 victory. Her second goal brought the captain to 101 career points, making her just the second player in program history to eclipse the 100-point mark.
The Red and Black’s last road game of the regular season came against Colby on Saturday, Oct. 25. It wasn’t an easy start to the day as the bus broke down, stranding the team on the side of the road for almost an hour, and forcing a 25-minute delay. Once they made it to the field, it took the team a bit to figuratively get off the bus, as the Cardinals were outshot in the first period, but they settled in during the second, with Feldman getting the scoring started. Smith added two goals in the third period, and Cameron wrapped up a 4–0 victory with her first goal of the season. It was the Cardinals’ sixth straight NESCAC victory, a program record.
Wesleyan closes its regular season Tuesday night, Oct. 28, against Conn. College, looking to clinch a home NESCAC quarterfinal game for the fourth time in program history. The conference tournament begins Saturday, Nov. 1, with the semifinals and finals the following weekend. Regardless of the outcome, the Cardinals are nearly guaranteed to host an NCAA D-III first-round game on Thursday, Nov. 13, with potential second- and third-round matchups that weekend and the semifinals and final set for Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 22-23.
“We’re trying to take [it] game by game,” Adams said. “We’re all just so excited to have the opportunity to potentially host. That’s the advantage of having sort of a slow start to the season: you don’t think ahead and you’re just grateful for the opportunity to improve yourselves.”
Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.
Payton Radosti can be reached at pradosti@wesleyan.edu.
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