MIDDLETOWN, CT. – In a wild overtime period that saw the first penalty shot of the season before
Mairead Kennedy '24 fired home the game-winning goal, the Wesleyan women's hockey team shutout No. 7 Hamilton 1-0 on Saturday afternoon fro Spurrier-Snyder Arena. Wesleyan has defeated two nationally ranked teams in the past six days after downing No. 3 Amherst on Sunday.
Graduate goaltender
Rei Halloran '23 finished the afternoon with 29 saves in goal as she earned her first shutout of the season in what is just the second shutout of a ranked opponent in program history and the first since 2019. The Cardinals shut out No. 6 Middlebury 1-0 on Feb. 2, 2019. Halloran was in goal for the 3-2 Amherst win and was in goal on Friday night after the Cardinals took Hamilton to a 2-2 draw.
Despite being outshot in two of the three regulation periods, the Cardinals (9-6-3 overall, 4-4-2 NESCAC) defense, backed by Halloran in goal, held the Continentals (11-4-3 overall, 4-4-2 NESCAC) scoreless through regulation. The Continents had a near scoring opportunity at the halfway point of the second period after Lilly Truchon's shot on Halloran was declared not a goal by the officials.
Brigitte Goeler-Slough '23 responded at the opposite end of the ice, taking back-to-back shots on Brown from each post. Truchon nearly scored again on a breakaway in the final minute of the period but was knocked off the puck by Aimee Seppenwolde '26.
Entering overtime after a scoreless third period, the Cardinals were gifted a golden opportunity as Goeler-Slough was awarded a penalty shot after Hamilton's Abby Smith was called for tripping Goeler-Slough on a breakaway scoring opportunity. Brown made the save on Goeler-Slough but 29 seconds later, Kennedy struck from out at the blueline, gaining the puck from
Christina Tournas '25, firing in her first goal of the season inside the left post to shut down the Continentals.
Goeler-Slough finished the afternoon with a team-leading four shots on goal.
In goal for the Continentals, Brown made 21 saves.
The Cardinals return to action on Friday, Feb. 2, when they host Middlebury in NESCAC action with puck drop at 7 p.m.
