WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – After a scoreless first half, No. 9 ranked Williams edged out No. 19 Wesleyan with three goals in the second half as the Ephs defeated the Cardinals, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon. The Ephs (7-3, 4-1 NESCAC) win the Little Three title while the Cardinals (8-5, 4-4 NESCAC) look to rebound with two remaining home games to close out the regular season slate.
 
The Ephs outshot the Cardinals 9-1 in the first half, with goalkeeper Audrey Pace '26 making saves on all seven of Williams' shots on-goal. Even with all the pressure in the Cardinals' defensive end, Annabel Cincotta '25 had perhaps the best look of the first half with 3:11 left in the second quarter but Gates Tenerowicz denied the chance from in close.
 
Coming out of halftime, Williams got their goal as Meaghan Boehm found Claire Colvin to put the Ephs up 1-0 which held going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Ephs doubled their lead when Molly Hellman placed a pass in front of Boehm who ran up and one-timed the goal to make it 2-0.
 
Helen Deretchin '25 pulled one back for the Cardinals via a penalty stroke to make it 2-1 with six minutes left in the contest.
 
The explosive fourth quarter continued as Kiki Higgins took the ball across the circle, evading defenders to strike a shot in the left section of the goal as Williams rebuilt their 3-1 lead.
 
Wesleyan again fought back as another penalty stroke was awarded, this time Kenzie Mauro '27 stepped to the spot and buried her sixth goal of the season as it was again a one-goal game with two minutes left.
 
The Cardinals pulled Pace, giving Wesleyan an extra field player over the final 2+ minutes but couldn't pull another goal back as the Ephs captured the Little Three title.
 
Williams outshot Wesleyan 25-9 (14-8 in shots on-goal) while the Ephs generated nine penalty corners compared to three for the Cardinals.
 
Pace recorded 11 saves, her third double-digit save outing of the season. Mauro is second on the team with six goals while Deretchin's goal is her fifth on the season.
 
Wesleyan has two NESCAC games remaining in the 2023 schedule, with the next showdown coming on Saturday, October 21 when the Cardinals host Bowdoin at 12 PM.