CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The 14^th-ranked Wesleyan women's soccer team defeated national power and No. 2 ranked Johns Hopkins on Saturday, 2-1, from the campus of MIT to advance to the Elite 8 of the 2021 NCAA Division III Tournament. The Cardinals continue on in their magical run off the foot of Remi Feuerman '22 as she fired a sweetly hit shot into the upper right corner, her second game-winning goal in Wesleyan's NCAA Tournament run, that broke the deadlock in the 49^th minute.
 
Wesleyan (17-1-2) also saw Emily Ribatt '21, G'22 score in the 20^th minute as the Cardinals head to the NCAA Quarterfinal (Elite 8) round on Sunday where they will face the host school and No. 8 ranked MIT at 1 PM. The Blue Jays (16-2-2) saw Sophia Stone score from distance but it wasn't enough as Johns Hopkins bows out in what was their 12^th all-time Sweet 16 appearance in program history.


 
HIGHLIGHTS:

• A bright start for Wesleyan saw Audrey Lavey '23 fire the first shot on-target just 36 seconds into the action, and Ribatt followed with another shot on-target in the 7^th minute of play
• Ribatt then found the back of the net in the 20^th minute as the Blue Jays had trouble with a clearance along their back line. An alert Ribatt took her chance on the bounce of the ball and her left-footed shot beat an unsuspecting Caitlin Hendricks in goal as Wesleyan grabbed the early lead
• As great teams often do, Johns Hopkins had an instant response as Stone lofted a free kick from 35 yards out right in front of the Wesleyan bench. With the ball lofted high in the air, Sarah Hammond '22 came out to grab the ball but free kick slipped through her fingers and found the back of the net to tie the score back up
• The two sides traded possession throughout the remainder of the first half with no shot landing on-target for the remaining 20 minutes before halftime
• In the second half, Wesleyan was on the front foot and a great sequence started at midfield as a through ball curled around the Johns Hopkins defense to a sprinting Lavey. As she dribbled the ball onto her right foot, she passed back to Feuerman who was unmarked just outside the box. Taking no time to think, Feuerman one-timed a shot past a helpless Hendricks in goal, into the upper corner as the Cardinals retook the lead just 3:19 into the second half
• The Cardinals nearly grabbed another goal as Grace Devanny '23 and Lavey combined on a pair of excellent chances from in-close but Hendricks was up to the task on both attempts from close range just seconds apart
• Johns Hopkins began to push back with around 15 minutes remaining as shots came firing on-goal from Stone and Rachel Jackson, both of which were turned aside by Hammond
• The Blue Jays managed three corner kicks in a two-minute span and fired two more shots on-goal but neither of them bothered Hammond in goal as the horn eventually sound on yet another captivating Wesleyan NCAA Tournament win

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Feuerman continues to come through for the Cardinals as she was the only player to score in Wesleyan's 1-0 NCAA First Round win over PSU Behrend. The senior now has three goals on the year including two of the biggest goals in Wesleyan program history
• Ribatt continues to deliver in the clutch as she assisted on Lavey's game-winner in the Cardinals 1-0 NCAA Second Round win over Stevens, this time with her second goal of the season
• Hammond bounced back from the first half goal allowed and made five saves to pick up her 16^th win of the season
• The two sides matched one another in nearly every stat category as the shot total was 11-11, saves 5-5, corner kicks 6-5 in favor of Johns Hopkins and fouls were 7-6 JHU
• Wesleyan extends their unbeaten streak to 13 straight
• This is Wesleyan's first-ever NCAA Elite 8 appearance in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance

UP NEXT:
Wesleyan matches up against No. 8 MIT (22-1-1) for the first time in program history. The Engineers dispatched Carnegie Mellon 2-1 in overtime at home in the 1:30 PM Sweet 16 match.