MIDDLETOWN, CT. - Under the blaze of an unusually warm October afternoon, the Wesleyan women's soccer team beat the heat and beat No. 23 Amherst College in a 3-0 home turf stunner, marking the first victory over Amherst since 2018 in spectacular fashion as
Maria Utz '27 led the charge with a three-point game at Jackson Field.
Finally freeing themselves of the thorn in the side that is the Mammoths (5-2-2 overall, 1-2-2 NESCAC), the Cardinals (6-1-3 overall, 2-1-3 NESCAC) put to bed a seven-year win hiatus after spending recent years matching up in the NESCAC Championship. The Oct. 20, 2018, victory turned out a 3-2 final tally.
Utz, ever the star this season, scored her seventh goal in 10 games to open the flood gates 27:33. Lining up the corner kick from the near side,
Rachel Katz '28 landed her shot on the crown of
Waverly Meyers '26 before the ball fell at Utz feet. Utz managed to make the turn and slipped the ball behind Lulu Fickes and into the left corner. Nearly three minutes later, without Fickes to stop her, Utz fired from inside the box as Fickes was caught off guard up top, her shot landing high and over the goal. The Mammoths answered, charging the Cardinals' back line as Brooke Ingemi struck on
Molly Brumbach '26, her shot ricocheting off the pipe as Brumbach dove for the save
.
Entering the half with a one-goal lead, the Cardinals made quick work adding an additional goal to the board to cushion the lead at 54:55. With the Mammoths unable to clear the zone after the Cardinals attacked down the far line, Katz held possession and took her right-foot shot from above the arc landing the ball into the left corner unassisted. It would take less than 10 minutes for the final goal of the game to arrive off the efforts of
Meredith Feiner '28. At 60:53, following a throw in that saw Utz rush the ball down the bench line, Utz's cross over the goal box found Feiner on the inside for the short boot into the far ninety.
Barely edging out the Mammoths by a 19-13 shot margin, the Cardinals held their breath on a one-on-one attempt with 27 minutes to go as the Mammoths nearly cut the shutout attempt. Emma Darling found herself face-to-face with Brumbach in the box but her shot rang high, easing the suspense.
Brumbach, who now leads the NESCAC with five shutouts, finished the afternoon with six saves in goal as Fickes matched her save count with three goals against.
The Cardinals return to action on Saturday, Oct. 11, for a Little Three Championship showdown with Williams at 1 p.m.
