AMHERST, MA. – The 6^th seeded Wesleyan Cardinals traveled to Massachusetts for a NESCAC Quarterfinals contest against the 3^rd seeded Amherst Mammoths Saturday afternoon. The two teams played to a tie in the first half with neither team having many scoring chances. The Mammoths broke through midway into the second half to finally get on the board. The Amherst defense then held the Cardinals without a goal in the second half securing their spot in the NESCAC semifinals. Wesleyan ends the season 8-5-3 (4-3-3 NESCAC), falling in the conference semifinals for the 2^nd straight year. Amherst advances to the semifinals where they will take on #4 Middlebury,

Wesleyan and Amherst have matched up with each other in the NESCAC tournament a handful of times in their histories, with Amherst now holding the 5-3 advantage in the series. Their most recent matchup before today came in 2019 where the 8^th seeded Cardinals were defeated by the 1^st seeded Mammoths 2-0.

Saturday's matchup was a battle from start to finish with the two teams being nearly even in a multiple of statistics. It was a physical first half that included two yellow cards and a handful of fouls from both sides. Wesleyan created their first shot in the 15^th minute off a corner. Lucas Ruehlemann '25 took a corner that bended towards the goal before Mammoths' keeper Bernie White turned it away. Ruehlemann had another chance just seconds later, but his shot sailed wide.

Amherst began to find some footing on the offensive end in the later parts of the first half. They were rewarded a free kick in the 30^th minute, but the ball was quickly disposed of by the Wesleyan defense. The Mammoths kept the pressure up to end the half, getting a header opportunity on net along with a close range shot that sailed high in the 37^th and 38^th minutes but they were saved by Mathis Blanc '26 who made his 2^nd straight start.

Amherst brought their offensive momentum with them into the second half, creating a corner kick and shot on goal within the first three minutes. The Wesleyan defense was bending, but not breaking early in the 2^nd half, as Blanc made another sliding save in the 55^th minute followed by a blocked shot in the 57^th.

Amherst netted the first and only goal of the game just two minutes later in the 60^th. Aiden Curtis tracked down a long and looping through ball, battling a Wesleyan defender to get a touch on the ball. He then beat Blanc with a low left-footed strike to give the Mammoths the lead.

Wesleyan applied pressure in the final minutes of the second half, but their efforts did not result in the equalizer. The Cardinals produced four shots (2 SOG) to end the game, with their best chance coming with 12 minutes remaining. Will Martin '26 took a long range shot that was turned away with a diving save. The rebound gave the Cardinals another opportunity, but it eventually went out of bounds.

Wesleyan has their season end in the NESCAC quarterfinal. Evan O'Brien '24 led the team in starts with 16, starting every game this year. Kyle Burbage '25 ends the season as the goals (6) and points (14) leader, while Philip Cubeddu '23 led both the team and conference in assists with 10. In goal, Liam Devanny '23 started 14 of 16 games, making 59 saves and holding a 1.19 goals allowed per game mark. Blanc came in and started the final two games of the season, making 11 total saves.