MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Playing under the lights at Smith Field, the No. 12 ranked Wesleyan women's lacrosse team put forth a stellar all-around effort in a 12-9 victory over No. 18 Trinity on Senior Night. After a back-and-forth start, Wesleyan used a 4-0 run midway through the game to seize control before relying on an impressive shutdown effort on defense to claim the win.

The NESCAC leader in goals Johanna Copeland '21 added to her total with her fifth five-goal game of the 2021 season. Copeland's season total now stands at 21 as she is averaging 4.20 goals per game through five regular season contests. Kendall Mittleman '23 (two goals, one assist) and Kat Cucullo '21 (one goal, two assists) each went for three points while Rylee White '21 – the NESCAC leader in draw controls – went off for career-highs in draw controls (eight) and caused turnovers (five).

Abby Wolk '22 made three saves, earning her first career win in the cage. Corin Grady '22 entered in the second half and was the best player on the field, making a career-high eight saves while adding two ground balls and one caused turnover in her 30 minutes of work.

This represented Senior Night for the Wesleyan Class of 2021 as Copeland, Cucullo, White, Indigo Pellegrini de Paur '21 and Sydney Prokupek '21 were celebrated throughout the day and after the victory.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• Less than a week removed from these two sides' last meeting (16-15 Wesleyan win in Hartford) in a game that featured 10 yellow cards and 31 goals, Friday night's rematch a very tame afford in comparison as the Cardinal defense shined throughout
• Copeland scored her first of the night 3:28 into play as she beat her defender on a straight sprint from the far sideline, all the way to the Trinity cage
• Five goals were scored over the course of less than four minutes as Wesleyan led 3-2 before the first unanswered goal came off the stick of Copeland as Cucullo found her classmate with just one second left on the shot clock to give Wesleyan the 4-2 advantage
• The key run in the game began late in the first half as Addie Defeo '24 put home her fourth goal of the season before she found Copeland open in front on another split-second reaction as the senior fired a shot just as the shot clock buzzer sounded that ultimately found the back of the net
• With Wesleyan leading 8-4 at the halftime break, Copeland's fifth of the day less than two minutes into the stanza got the second half started and capped the 4-0 Cardinal scoring run
• Copeland's fifth goal came after Grady made a pair of stellar saves on Trinity's opening possession of the second half that could've easily lowered the deficit to 8-5. Less than two minutes later, Grade denied Christine Taylor on a free position shot and her fourth save of the first five minutes of the half came on a Olivia Weckwerth denial as Wesleyan continued to hold a four-goal advantage
• In need of insurance, Laura Baine '24 put the game on-ice with consecutive markers that gave Wesleyan their biggest lead of the game at 12-6
• The Bantams scored less than 40 seconds after Baine's second but it wasn't enough as two late Trinity strikes weren't enough to bring the game to within reach as Wesleyan earned the 12-9 win

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Copeland's play has been stellar all season as she has 21 goals through five games and three five-goal performances on the 2021 season
• Copeland has a nine-goal lead over the next-highest goal scorer in the NESCAC (Catherine Lawliss of Tufts, Courtney Pierre of Hamilton both have 12)
• Baine's two goals ups her season total to 10 as she now has three straight multi-goal games and 15 points in five games this season
• A key trend in this game saw Wesleyan go 5-for-6 on free position shots while Trinity converted just 1-of-4 free position shot attempts into goals
• Wesleyan owned a 13-9 advantage in draw controls and won the first eight straight
• Brooke Keough '23 scored her first career goal on a free position shot late in the first half
• Emma Wilson '24 recorded her first career point with an assist on Baine's second goal in the second half
• The Cardinals won the ground ball battle by a significant 20-12 margin
• Wesleyan's goalkeeper tandem of Wolk and Grady combined for 11 saves while Trinity's duo amassed just four

UP NEXT:
Wesleyan (3-2, 3-1 NESCAC West) awaits Sunday's game between Trinity and Hamilton as the Cardinals need a Bantam win over the Continentals to have a chance to play in the NESCAC Championship game. Even if the Cardinals miss out on the title game, Wesleyan will play a cross-divisional game the weekend of May 1.