MEDFORD, Mass. – The sensational, record-breaking 2025 campaign for the Wesleyan field hockey team reached a new pinnacle on Saturday as the four-seed Cardinals defeated the top-seed Tufts 2-0 in the NESCAC Semifinal round on Ounjian Field on Saturday, sending Wesleyan to the NESCAC Championship game for the first time in program history.
 
With the win, the Cardinals (14-3) break the team's single-season all-time wins record, surpassing the 1999 and 2000 squads, each winning 13 games. The Cardinals also set a new single-season shutout record, as this is the team's eighth shutout win of the season. Winners of 10 straight, tied for the longest win streak in team history, the Cardinals face off against the three-seed Bates on Sunday at Noon with the NESCAC title on the line.
 
An innocuous start to this one saw a bulk of the play in the midfield area with neither side generating much in the way of scoring chances. The second quarter is when the game flipped, as the Cardinals looked threatening throughout the stanza, generating a pair of penalty corners before cashing in on what was the third penalty corner in a span of 2+ minutes.
 
Georgia Adams '26, who drew the foul that got the penalty corner whistle, inserted to Brooke Miner '27 at the top of the circle. Sydney Cameron '26 first stepped to the ball but faked a pass, leaving Leila Feldman '28 to take a big swing that deflected off the stick of a Jumbo defender and went bar-down before landing in the back of the cage.
 
Not content with the one-goal lead, the Cardinals pushed for a second and just 2:34 later, found another. Adams drew a foul in the Tufts' defensive end and sent a pass to Meera Patel '29 on the edge of the circle. With four Jumbo defenders swarming Patel, the first-year forward somehow managed to dribble through the pressure and with the Tufts goalie Lydia Eastburn off her line, Patel sent a pass to the far post for Feldman who made no mistake in burying her second goal of the afternoon.
 
The Jumbos managed one penalty corner before halftime with Eleanor Luft's shot was kicked away on a foot save from Audrey Pace '26 as the Cardinals led 2-0 at the break.
 
Pace made another sensational save early in the second half as Eleanor Helm fired a blast towards the far post on a penalty corner and Pace positioned herself perfectly, as the ball kicked off her right leg and out of trouble.
 
The Cardinals threatened for another, first on a penalty corner with three shot attempts on-target that Eastburn had to make saves on to keep it 2-0. Then a few minutes later, Patel looked to have made it 3-0 as her reverse hit attempt lofted over Eastburn and in, but the Jumbos initiated a video review and it was determined that Patel used the back side of her stick on the shot, taking the goal away.
 
Heading into the fourth quarter, Pace made another stop, this time denying Claire Casey on a penalty corner shot from the left wing. Tufts' Hannah Biccard looked to have pulled a goal back for the Jumbos with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the referee blew a whistle for a foul as the shot was too high from the base boards on the cage.
 
Wesleyan possessed in the Tufts' defensive end for a majority of the final few minutes before the final horn sounded on the record-breaking win to send the Cardinals to the NESCAC Championship game.
 
Feldman's two goals boosts her team-leading total up to 11 on the year while Patel and Miner each dished out their eighth assist of 2025.
 
Pace made three saves in the shutout win, which represents just the second time in team history that Wesleyan has recorded a shutout win in the NESCAC Tournament.
 
Awaiting the Cardinals in the title game is the three-seed Bates. The Bobcats defeated the Cardinals 1-0 in Lewiston back on September 20.