The nationally ranked No. 16 Hamilton College Continentals defeated the Wesleyan University Cardinals 3-1 in NESCAC action at Wesleyan's Jackson Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
The hard-fought game had serious NESCAC postseason implications, as the Continentals hoped to improve their seeding for the conference championship, while the Cardinals continued their push for a playoff berth.
 
The Continentals rounded out NESCAC play with a 5-5 record and improved to 9-5 overall this season. Hamilton plays its final regular season game at the University of Rochester on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. The Continentals are sitting in seventh place in the conference standings but could still move up to the No. 6 seed. All the other NESCAC teams play at least one more conference game as the NESCAC season wraps up on Wednesday.
 
Hamilton staved off a strong Wesleyan surge in the first quarter behind multiple key saves by goaltender Maggie Reville '22. Reville continued her strong season in the cage and finished with four saves.
 
Hamilton's first goal came with 13:32 left in the second quarter. Maura Holden '23 stole the ball right outside the shooting circle and passed to Tracey Stafford '23 who wristed it past Wesleyan goaltender Caitlin Grant. Stafford's five goals are third-most on the team behind only Holden and Keeley Duran '22.
 
After maintaining possession in the Cardinals' half for the majority of the quarter, the Continentals doubled their lead on a short-corner goal with 4:38 left in the second. Lexi Takashima '22 took the short corner, passed it to Hannah Dillon '24 and she ripped a hard shot towards Wesleyan's near post. After a Wesleyan player blocked the shot, Takashima followed up at the post and scooped the ball past a defender into the vacant cage for her third goal at Hamilton.
 
The Continentals all but put the game out of reach in the third quarter, taking a commanding 3-0 lead with 3:33 left. After Dillon collected the ball on the left wing, she drove to the middle before laying off a short pass to Holden, who one-timed a backhand feed into Wesleyan's goal mouth. The ball deflected off a Wesleyan defender and squirted to the back post to Delaney Grace '25, who redirected it into the cage on a great sliding effort for her second goal this fall. Holden's two assists are her first this season.
 
The Cardinals drew one back on the scoreboard with 10:38 left in the fourth quarter. Wesleyan's Diana Schwarz followed up her own rebound with a slap shot past Reville. The goal was too little, too late for the Cardinals, who dropped to 6-8 overall and 2-7 in the NESCAC.