ROCHESTER, N.Y. – In the first meeting between the No. 25 Wesleyan women's soccer team and No. 24 Misericordia University, Wesleyan fell 3-0 to Misericordia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at host University of Rochester. Wesleyan ends the 2022-23 season 7-5-6 overall, 3-2-5 in NESCAC play after making their third straight appearance in the tournament.
The Cougars (16-3-1) advance to the second round and will play Rochester on Sunday, Nov. 12.
With only three and a half minutes of game played, the Cougars opened the scoring for themselves as Maegan Allspach found the back of the net on a low shot from out left that caught starting goalkeeper
Juliette Vemmer '25 out at the top of the box. Before the Cougars could get their second goal on at 11:52,
Audrey Lavey '23 took a free kick awarded to the Cardinals for their first real scoring opportunity of the match. Emma Sweitzer put the second goal behind Vemmer on a cross from the right and rerouting around the Cardinals defense.
Topping a trio of goals for the Cougars, Julia Beck gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead on a 38-yard free kick. The Cougars outshot the Cardinals through the first half 7-1.
The Cardinals entered the final 45 minutes with a defensive mindset, refusing to go down without a fight. Early in the second half Vemmer made two tremendous saves on Allspach and Colleen Kinsella to give the Cardinals a change of pace. The defense, as they have all season, gave a shutdown performance, and held the Cougars to only four shots and zero goals to give the offense the chance to put up six shots in the Cougars end.
Catching the rebound on a blocked shot by
Stefanie Stoj '26,
Lina Rodriguez '24 nearly put a goal down for the Cardinals as her shot from out above the box hit the crossbar and sank behind Cougars goalkeeper Lauren Mondor. At 84:04
Kerenza Leahey would get the final on goal shot for the Cardinals but Mondor came up with the save again, tipping it up and into the netting.
Vemmer made four saves in goal for the Cardinals as Mondor made one for the Cougars.
The Cardinals recorded 10 goal scorers this season as
Waverly Meyers '26 and
Katie O'Connell '25 led the team with five goals and an assist for 11 points and two game-winning goals each.
Riley Buehler '26 totaled four goals and
Audrey Lavey '23, Rodriguez, and Stoj all recorded three apiece. Lavey recorded a team-high 12 points and six assists that ranked second in the NESCAC. Lavey also ranked third in the NESCAC in shots on goal (25) and fifth in total shots (2.82 per game). Lavey finishes her career as a Cardinal with 22 goals and 11 assists for 55 points. Starting all 17 games this season were Lavey, Meyers,
Tori Rideau-Winds '26,
Caty Clements '25, and
Serena Sink '24.
Vemmer went 5-2-0 overall in seven starts in goal for the Cardinals. She recorded 25 saves and six goals against with a .806 save percentage and took home two shutouts.
Molly Brumbach '26 finishes with a 2-3-6 record in 11 starts. Brumbach totaled 71 saves with a .899 save percentage. Brumbach also earned four shutouts with eight goals against. In the NESCAC Brumbach ranked first in saves (.899 save percentage), saves per game (5.46), second in goals against average (.660), and fourth in shutouts.
Head coach
Eva Meredith completes her 20
th season at the helm of the women's soccer program with a standing 118-134-45 record.
