WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Trailing 3-0 in the blink of an eye, the No. 13 ranked Wesleyan field hockey team didn't pack it in, scoring twice to give No. 4 Williams all they could handle in the end, but it proved not enough as the Cardinals fell to the Ephs 3-2 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Wesleyan's historic 2024 season ends with a 12-6 record and in a place the team had never been previously, the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Cardinals were undone in this one by a blistering 1:46 minutes in the first quarter wherein the Ephs scored three goals, all scored in open play. Meaghan Boehm was first to score, taking a feed from Kiki Higgins and deflecting home the opener with 3:51 left in the frame.
 
A green card issued to Wesleyan just 35 seconds following the Boehm goal proved costly with Williams scoring twice in the two-minute penalty. Just 15 seconds following the green card and 50 seconds following Boehm's goal, Higgins slotted home another Williams tally to make it 2-0 Ephs.
 
It was Higgins again who scored a wonder goal to put Williams ahead 3-0. Carrying the ball inside the shooting arc, Higgins lofted a rainbow shot up and over Audrey Pace '26 in net.
 
The comeback bid started early in the second quarter with Georgia Adams '26 scoring her 14^th of the season. Brooke Miner '28 sent a lofted pass up and over several Eph defenders to Adams who possessed near the end line. Sliding the ball onto her backhand, Adams got some height on a reverse sweep shot attempt that beat Ellie Smith and lowered the deficit to 3-1.
 
Coming out of halftime still trailing by two, it was Adams once again for Wesleyan as Sydney Cameron '26 sent her a perfect pass leading Adams into the arc. With Smith coming far off her line to challenge the pass, Adams nudged a shot on-target that beat the Williams goalie to make it 3-2 Ephs with 8:12 left in the third quarter.
 
With the Ephs playing defensively, protecting the one-goal lead, chances came at a premium down the stretch. Wesleyan managed a penalty corner opportunity with 3:58 left in the third, but Kenzie Mauro '27 saw her shot attempt denied by Smith.
 
Williams' Claire Colvin was issued a green card early in the fourth, but the Cardinals weren't able to generate any shot attempts in the two-minutes with a player advantage.
 
With the clock winding under three minutes to play, the Cardinals managed a penalty corner chance and the insert went to Imani Ochieng '25 who fired a shot on-target, but Smith was there to turn aside the attempt.
 
Wesleyan pulled Pace with 2:04 remaining, giving the Cardinals an extra field player, but to no avail as the Cardinals couldn't get the third goal to tie the score.
 
Adams' two goals gives her 15 for the season and a single-season career-high 36 points. The 36 points are the second-highest single-season total in team history.
 
Wesleyan's seven-player senior/graduate class – Ochieng, Helen Deretchin '25, Kenzie Kelly '25, Annabel Cincotta '25, Ava Galdenzi '24, G'25, Sydney Atwood '25, and Athena Vadnal '25 – can take pride in leading the program to new ground, including the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 12 wins this season is the third-highest single-season total in team history and the most since the Cardinals finished 13-5 in 2000.