MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After suffering their first loss of the season just 24 hours prior, the No. 11 ranked Wesleyan women's lacrosse team shook off the sting of their defeat to Colby yesterday with a 13-6 win over Endicott at home on Sunday afternoon. Wesleyan (4-1) put forth a strong defensive performance, forcing the Gulls (3-2) into 27 turnovers while holding Endicott to a season-low scoring total.
 
Among the several incredible individual efforts for the Cardinals throughout the lineup, the standout on the day was Erin Trotta '23 who broke a single-game program record with eight caused turnovers. Trotta's career day bested Jordan Ansell '20 who held the program record with seven caused turnovers at Colorado College on March 9, 2020. Trotta added a career-high four ground balls to complete an all-around stellar effort.
 
Laura Baine '24, meanwhile, continued to pile on the points as she matched a career-high with seven points, totaling three goals and four assists as she hit the seven-point threshold for the third time in five games this season. Baine leads the team and the NESCAC in points (29) and assists (15) this season.
 
Kendall Mittleman '23 had a big day offensively with six points as she matched her career-high with four assists, adding two goals to her scoring total. Olivia Lai '23 led the Cardinals with four goals, matching a season and career-high while she leads the team with 16 goals this season.
 
A day after struggling on draw controls in the loss to the Mules, Wesleyan had a much better showing on draws against the Gulls and that was largely due to Molly Greer '24 who stepped up with eight draw controls, the most for a Cardinal in any game this season. Greer added two ground balls, one caused turnover and her second goal of the season to complete an all-around stellar effort.
 
After seeing Colby take control with a 5-1 first quarter showing on Saturday, the Cardinals played the aggressor on Sunday and built a 5-1 lead of their own at the end of the opening quarter. Mittleman scored the first two goals on consecutive possessions for the Cardinals while Baine, Kate Balicki '23 and Lai each scored around two minutes apart to give Wesleyan the four-goal advantage.
 
Neither team scored for nearly eight minutes of action until Chessy Greenwald '23 found the back of the net nearly midway through the second quarter. Greenwald then assisted on a Baine goal while Mittleman found Lai to put Wesleyan out in front 8-1 at the half. Wesleyan's defense was truly stellar in the first half, as after Carly Pierce nearly midway through the first quarter, the Cardinal defense held the Gulls scoreless over the final 22:58 of the first half.
 
Endicott found their first goal in over 25 minutes of action early in the third quarter as Katie Schenk scored while Tori Hurley found the back of the net just two minutes later and suddenly the margin was cut to five. That burst, however, was all the goal scoring Endicott would find in the quarter as Lai completed her hat trick before Abbey Logan '22 scored her first of the season to put Wesleyan out in front 10-3 after three.
 
After getting outscored in the first quarter 5-1, Endicott battled in the second half and held serve with the Cardinals as both sides scored five times in the second half of play but the damage was done and Wesleyan finished off a 13-6 win.
 
The stats for both sides were incredibly close given the seven-goal margin of victory. Shots were in favor of Wesleyan 23-21, Endicott had two more turnovers (27-25), both teams made five saves, Wesleyan led in draw controls 12-11 and the Gulls had four free position shots compared to three for the Cardinals.
 
Abby Wolk '22 picked up the win, her fourth of the season, making four saves and allowing just three goals in 45 minutes of action.
 
Schenk led the way for Endicott, totaling four points as she scored or assisted on four of the team's six goals. Schenk added five draw controls, four ground balls and two caused turnovers in a complete all-around performance.
 
Wesleyan concludes their five-game home stand on Wednesday night with a non-conference matchup with Western Connecticut State at 6 PM.