MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – It was a night to remember for the Wesleyan field hockey team as
Diana Schwarz '23 tied the score with four minutes left and after two scoreless overtime periods, the Cardinals won a thrilling penalty shootout to defeat the No. 8 ranked Trinity Bantams, 3-2, on Tuesday night from Smith Field. Wesleyan (3-4) earned their first NESCAC win while the Cardinals handed Trinity (6-1) their first loss of the season.
This marks the second straight season Wesleyan defeated a Top 10 ranked NESCAC program at home as the Cardinals defeated then-No. 5 Tufts, 1-0, back in 2019. Tonight's win also marked the first penalty shootout victory for Wesleyan since 2014 while the Cardinals are now 5-0 in their last five games that were decided by shootouts.
Annabel Cincotta '25 in full-celebration mode following the shootout win
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Trinity dominated possession early, owning a 7-1 advantage in shots but Kylie Nelson-Marois '24 made three saves, countering the pressure effectively until the tail end when Riley Nichols found Jackie Frank for a goal off a penalty corner as Trinity led 1-0 after one
- Nelson-Marois continued to play stellar in the cage, making four more saves to give her seven in the first half alone, keeping Wesleyan in the game
- Wesleyan countered the Bantam's opening strike with a Schwarz second quarter tally as Olivia Baglieri '22 hammered a ball into the circle following a Trinity foul. With Schwarz being the lone Cardinal inside the arc, she managed to deflect a shot on-target past Bantom goalkeeper Emma Cropper
- Coming out of halftime, Trinity was back on the front foot and netted a go-ahead goal in the 37th minute as Caelin Flaherty received a pass from Riley Nichols, wound up and fired in a shot past Nelson-Marois to make it 2-1 Bantams
- Trinity had two penalty corners and hit the post in the fourth quarter trying to find an insurance tally but those missed chances came back to bite Trinity as Schwarz took a pass 15 feet from the cage. Instead of firing an immediate shot, Schwarz took her time to work around the defense, taking her time to set up a backhander that squirted past Olivia McMichael, tying the score with just 4:04 left
Cardinals celebrate the late, game-tying goal from Diana Schwarz '23
- In the two overtime frames, it was back-and-forth with three total shot attempts with just one landing on-target. Dani Dittmann '22, who played the full 80 minutes at back for Wesleyan, intercepted several Trinity transition opportunities and helped send the game into the penalty shootout
- In the best-of-five shootout, both teams missed on their first two chances until Melanie Lim '24 broke through, beating the eight-second clock by fractions of a second to put Wesleyan on the board. Nelson-Marois denied Katrina Winfield before Helen Deretchin '25 ripped a backhander past McMichael to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage
- Needing a goal to extend the shootout, Jackie Frank converted for Trinity and after Schwarz missed, Nelson-Marois stood tall and forced Christine Taylor into an attempt that went wide to complete the stunning upset for Wesleyan
Kylie Nelson-Marois '24 stops Christine Taylor on this match-clinching denial in the fifth round of the penalty shootout
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Schwarz tallied both goals to give her a team-leading five for the season
- Baglieri's assist was her team-leading fourth through seven games in 2021 while Myla Stovall '22 recorded the assist on Schwarz's game-tying goal in the fourth quarter to give her two on the campaign
- Nelson-Marois was stellar once again, making eight saves to give her 18 combined over the last two contests (both coming against ranked foes – No. 12 Bowdoin and No. 8 Trinity)
- The Bantams owned a 24-6 advantage in shots and 11-2 in shots on-goals while taking 13 penalty corners compared to two for Wesleyan
UP NEXT:
Wesleyan takes a break from NESCAC play with a non-conference game on Thursday night at Wheaton (7 PM start).
