This season the women’s hockey team has struggled against their NESCAC opponents. But in a rematch with Connecticut College on Feb. 4, the team scored a moral victory with a 1-1 tie against its NESCAC rival. The Lady Cards were highlighted by the play of standout goalie Rachel Stemerman ’09 and Hannah Jackson ’09, who scored the key goal of the game.
The day before, the Cards fell to the Camels 4-1. After establishing a two-point advantage, the Camels kept their lead throughout the whole game, despite an eventful final five minutes. With three minutes left in the game, Jessica Fischer ’08, assisted by Emily Avener ’09 and Julia Kazmers ’08, slipped a puck past Camel goalie Gabby Petrill on a power play to cut the lead to a single goal. Soon afterwards, the Camel’s Jill Mauer reinstated the two-point cushion with an empty net goal. The Camels scored for a final time with 45 second left, leaving the Cards with another NESCAC defeat.
Despite the loss, the Lady Cards kept their heads up and played fervently in the next day’s game. Their determination paid off as they bounced back in a rematch with the Camels earning a 1-1 tie. The scoreboard remained blank until rookie Hannah Jackson, assisted by Emily Titterton ’06, notched her eighth team-leading goal of the season 11 and a half minutes into the second period.
Although the Kristen Van Slyke evened the score at 1 seven minutes later, the Cards defended their goal up to the final buzzer. To Conn’s disappointment, Rachel Stemerman, with the help of the defense, was able to maintain the tie throughout the rest of the game. Stemerman was stellar in goal, notching 32 saves of the 33 shots taken on her.
She preserves her title as the league’s leading goalie, boasting an amazing 634 saves during her first season at Wesleyan. Her save percentage up to date is 92.6 which is the second highest in the NESCAC.
Last weekend, the women were defeated twice on Bowdoin’s home ice. Bowdoin, who has yet to lose a game this season, played an extraordinary two games, first victorious with a five-point win and then with a shutout. Adrienne Shea ’08, with the help of Julia Cohen ’09, scored Wesleyan’s single goal in the Friday game. Shea now has a total of eleven goals this season, three more than at the end of last season.
Bowdoin’s Katie Coyne pulled a slick hat trick following Beth Battin’s leading goal, securing the lead for the Polar Bears. Stemerman and Hilary Schreiber ’09 split the goaltending and together collected a total of eight saves. Despite the Cards’ hard effort against the ninth top team in the nation, the Saturday game brought about a shut-out. The Polar Bears’ Kristen Cameron led her team by knocking in two goals and an assist. On the brighter side, the Lady Cards’ Hilary Schreiber ’09 had 45 saves, an impressive total in comparison to Bowdoin goalie Emileigh Mercer’s seven saves.
“I guess I am happy with how I did,” said Hannah Jackson ’08. “I just wanted to play hockey and improve. I’m really happy that I got to know this group of girls. I think we really bonded and I think we all really played hard and with a lot of heart. It’s unfortunate that our record doesn’t represent us because we really are a great team.”
The Lady Cards will be hosting their final regular season games this weekend against Colby College. The games will be held at the Freeman Athletic Center on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m.
When asked about his thoughts on the upcoming game, hockey fan David Tassone ’08 replied, “I’m excited to see the final games against Colby. The team has had its ups and downs this season and hopefully we can end on a good note.”
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