But before the Jeffs were able to worry about the tournament, they had to take care of Wesleyan on Homecoming Weekend. With both teams vying for position in the postseason, this game had much more at stake than the usual Homecoming affair.
The Jeffs were able to take the upper hand nine minutes into the match, and they never relinquished their lead. Abby Ouimet '03 tallied her 11th goal of the season after a scramble in front of the net, and it was all the offense that the Jeffs would need.
Goalie Beth Sensing '02 made the lone goal stand up with a solid four-save shutout, and with the win the Jeffs received the fourth seed in the tournament.
"It is always great to beat a Little III team," said Ouimet. "They took us to strokes last season, so coming out on top this year was great."
Going into the NESCAC tournament, some could have doubted the Jeffs. They had lost two important NESCAC matches to Middlebury and Williams Colleges, and they had already lost once to their first round opponent, Colby. Additionally, their first round match against the White Mules was only a day after their Homecoming victory. The opportunity for a letdown loomed. But the women's team had no doubts.
"The team was extremely confident that we could beat Colby," said Robin Ackerman '02. "We did not play well the first time we played them, and we have played well as a team recently."
"We knew that we couldn't have a letdown against Colby," added Ouimet. "We knew that the team that came out the hardest on Sunday and didn't have any letdowns would win, and that's what we did."
Ackerman showed that the Jeffs' confidence was not misplaced early in the game. With just over four minutes elapsed in the first half, Ackerman found the back of the net, after collecting a rebound off of a shot by Ouimet.
The Jeffs were unable to keep this lead for long though, as the White Mules answered with a goal of their own. Marcia Ingraham of Colby finished off a scramble in front of the net by knocking in the Mules' only goal of the game midway through the first half.
But the Jeffs did not despair. Nine minutes later they took the lead for good, when Ouimet sent a pass across the goal crease to Tri-captain Marcy Busch '02, who knocked in the game winning goal.
The second half was a scoreless battle, but by all accounts the Jeffs' lead was never seriously threatened.
"We came out and played intense but smart against Colby," said Ouimet.
Up next for the Jeffs is Middlebury, the top seed in the conference and the victors in a showdown at Hitchcock Field on Oct. 6. That day the Jeffs and the Panthers played a very tight game, but the Panthers were able to knock in a goal just minutes after the halftime break to take home the victory.
"We all feel good about playing Middlebury," said Ouimet. "Even though they came out on top we outplayed them the second half."
"It's hard to beat a team twice in field hockey, so I think that we are in a good position," added Ackerman. "We are very excited to play Middlebury and confident that we can win."