MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – It was a game to remember, in a season to remember for the No. 18 ranked Wesleyan field hockey team as two key saves, one in regulation and one in double overtime, sent the game into a penalty shootout where a pair of seniors scored on Senior Day to lead the Cardinals past No. 11 Bowdoin, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon from Smith Field. Wesleyan (9-5, 5-4 NESCAC) clinches its first NESCAC Tournament berth since 2013 with the win while the Polar Bears (10-4, 5-4 NESCAC) see their chances of a home playoff game take a big hit with the defeat.
 
This marks yet another landmark win for Wesleyan in a resounding season that is resetting the standard within the program. A fourth win over a ranked team this season also signals the first win for Wesleyan over Bowdoin since the 2009 season. Wesleyan hasn't had more than eight wins in a single-season since 2010 and this is the first time the Cardinals have won at least five NESCAC games since that same 2010 campaign. Also of-note, the Cardinals are now 6-0 in their last six games that were decided by shootouts.
 
A very promising start to this one for the Cardinals saw Georgia Adams '26 net her team-leading 14^th goal of the season just 1:57 into play. Imani Ochieng '25 received the insert from Ava Galdenzi '24 on the far wing on a penalty corner. With time, Ochieng swept the ball towards the far post. Making its way through traffic, the ball was put home by Adams as Wesleyan led 1-0 early.
 
Just over two minutes later, another penalty corner goal from the Cardinals put the home team ahead 2-0. Adams sent a ball in front towards Kenzie Kelly '25 who managed to get a stick on the initial pass. Her shot on-goal was denied by Melissa Shunk for a defensive save, but the rebound kicked back out enough for Kelly to bury the rebound for her second goal of the season.
 
Bowdoin had a great look off a penalty corner six minutes later as Georgie Coetzer received the insert and banged her shot off the right post. The rebound fell to Faith Jennings who put a shot on-goal that was denied by Kiernan McColgan '26 for her team-leading fifth defensive save of the season.
 
The Polar Bears lowered the deficit to one with 4:09 left in the second quarter. Coetzer received another insert on the left wing and she blasted a shot past Audrey Pace '26 inside the near post to make it 2-1 heading into halftime.
 
After an uneventful third quarter that featured just two combined shot attempts between the two teams, Pace stood on her head with an incredible fourth quarter, making eight saves in the final 15 minutes of regulation including three in a span of five seconds midway through the frame.
 
However, all that pressure finally paid off for Bowdoin as Emily Ferguson put home a pass from Coetzer on the far wing off a penalty corner as the Polar Bears tied the score with just 2:10 left in regulation.
 
With the clock winding down under 10 seconds in regulation, Kelly came up with the play of the game for the Cardinals in the waning seconds. With Faith Jennings carrying inside the arc with a lot of speed, she centered towards Ferguson who managed to get a deflection towards goal on the pass. An alert Kelly, who had sprinted back to goal, made a diving defensive save with 1.3 seconds left, that saved a would-be game-winning Bowdoin goal in the final second of play.
 
Heading into the first overtime, neither side recorded a shot, but the second overtime saw a lot of action with seven combined shots. Bowdoin's Maddie Mrva was shown a green card with 6:11 left in the session, making it 6-on-5 for the Cardinals in terms of field players, but the player advantage didn't lead to a goal.
 
Then with under a minute left, Pace made two incredible plays in a span of five seconds. First, she blocked a pass from Caroline Higgins headed for the far post where a wide open Polar Bear was waiting to sweep in the game-winner. After the intervention, with the ball still loose, Mrva fired a shot that was denied by Pace's leg to keep the score tied and send the game into a shootout.
 
Wesleyan scored first in the shootout as Galdenzi found the back of the cage on the first attempt in the best-of-5 shootout. Bowdoin answered back with a make from Jennings to tie the shootout score at 1-1. Three rounds followed with no conversions for either side.
 
After five rounds, the shootout moved to a round-by-round format and Melanie Lim '24 stepped up first and buried a goal to put the pressure on Bowdoin. Mrva needed to score to extend the game, but Pace came up huge with a denial to send the Cardinals into full celebration mode following the playoff-clinching win.
 
The Cardinals battled all game against a Bowdoin side that outshot Wesleyan 28-11 (18-7 in shots on-goal). Kelly, Helen Deretchin '25, and Imani Ochieng '25 played the full 80 minutes as all three put forth heroic efforts to pave the way to victory.
 
Pace played all 80 minutes plus the shootout and posted a season-high while matching her career-high with 14 saves. The sophomore just passed her freshman year total and now has 89 saves with a .761 save percentage on the season.
 
Wesleyan finishes up the regular season back on Smith Field, where the Cardinals are 5-2 this season (3-1 in NESCAC play), against Connecticut College on Tuesday at 6 PM.