By Peter Keiper-White
Sports Editor

Field hockey knew it was going to have to defeat Bowdoin College Saturday if it wanted a shot at a home playoff game.

The Cardinals (10-4) met the challenge and blanked Bowdoin (12-2) 2-0.

"We played a strong small game and made sharp, short passes," said Patti Klecha-Porter, the head coach. "Basically, we knew what we had to do to win and went out and did it."

Downing the Polar Bears was no small feat; Bowdoin was riding a six game winning streak and had the added advantage of a supportive homecoming crowd.

With the victory the Cardinals received the second seed in the eight-team East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament. The Cardinals will open with a rematch against seventh-seed Middlebury College (9-5) at home at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday.

After a scoreless first half, Maura Trail ’00 got the game-winner less than two minutes into the second half.

She fired a shot from just inside the circle that was supposed to be tipped in by another player. The ball had eyes; it slowly weaved its way through the Bowdoin defense and even confused the Polar Bear keeper who stood idly by and watched the ball go in.

"I couldn’t believe it went in," Trail said. "It was a slow shot and I expected someone else to tip it in but [Bowdoin] just misplayed it."

While Bowdoin frantically tried to recover from the turnover, Trail ripped a shot past Bowdoin keeper Lauren Fitch to put the Cardinals ahead to stay.

After the goal Bowdoin turned its offense up a notch and took the play to the Cardinals. Thanks to solid saves by keeper Taryn Hutchins-Cabibi ’01, Wesleyan weathered the storm and held its slim 1-0 lead.

With seven saves, Hutchins-Cabibi picked up her second consecutive shutout and fifth of the season

Carlin Aloe ’01, an attacker, completed the victory as she converted a Trail feed in the closing seconds.

One of the keys to the Cardinal victory was their ability to shut down Bowdoin’s top offensive threat, Heather Hawes.

Hawes led her club with 19 goals coming in to the game but because of a huge defensive effort by Whitney Kasserman ’00, co-captain and midfielder, Hawes was kept off the scoreboard and was limited to few scoring chances.

"I was determined to annoy her," Kasserman said. "Every time they had a free hit they tried to get the ball to her and I made sure that I was in between her and the hitter. Inside the 25 I marked her and I know she likes to see the ball and since she’s taller than me I jumped up and down to make that difficult for her."

While Wesleyan won the only area that mattered, the scoreboard, Bowdoin led in all other statistical categories. The Polar Bears fired 11 shots on net to Wesleyan’s five. They also had 11 corner opportunities to the Cardinals three.

While Middlebury is no longer the national championship contender it has been in recent years, the team still provides a distinct challenge for Wesleyan. The Panthers won three straight games to finish the regular season and defeated nationally-ranked Skidmore College (16-1) earlier this year.

The Panthers eked out a 2-1 win over Wesleyan when the teams met in Vermont earlier this season.

"We need to have a second effort like this against Middlebury," Klecha-Porter said. "I think we are stronger both offensively and defensively than we were when we played them earlier."

"Against Middlebury earlier this year season we were really nervous," Kasserman said. "It was on their field for their homecoming and that made us nervous. If we play our game we should beat them–we are the better team."