MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – On this day, there was no denying the Wesleyan women's lacrosse team. With the Little 3 title on the line, the No. 11 nationally ranked Cardinals scored the first seven goals of the game and would go on to defeat Williams by a score of 18-8, winning the Little 3 for the third time in the last four seasons. Not only did Wesleyan (11-3, 6-3 NESCAC) take home the title, but they did so in record-setting fashion as the 18 goals are the most the Cardinals have ever scored in 46 games all-time against the Ephs (5-8, 2-6 NESCAC) while this also marked the largest margin of victory over Williams in the series history.
 
Wesleyan's third Little 3 title in the past four seasons signals the massive evolution of the program in recent years as prior to 2017, the Cardinals had won the Little 3 just three times and went without one for 34 straight seasons (1983-2016). Fast forward to present day and the Cardinals have defeated Williams five straight times now while earlier this season, Wesleyan defeated Amherst (also in record-breaking fashion) by a score of 16-2. Those 16 goals are the most the Cardinals have ever scored against the Mammoths while Wesleyan also allowed their fewest goals ever facing Amherst and recorded their largest win in the series history.
Olivia Lai '23 highlighted the victory by tying her career-high with six points for the fourth time in the last five games. She put in five goals and added one assist to give her 50 goals on the season, becoming just the third Cardinal in program history to reach the 50-goal mark in a single-season. Lai joins Abby Manning '20 (69 in 2019) and Becky Vogel '05 (52 in 2005) as the lone three Cardinals to score 50 goals.
 
In all, 11 different Cardinals scored at least one goal while 14 in total recorded at least one point in a dominating victory. Kendall Mittleman '23 posted four assists, all in the first half, which matches her career-high and gives her 31 on the season which ranks third in the NESCAC. Chessy Greenwald '23, Laura Baine '24 and Kate Balicki '23 all scored two goals while Kaitlyn McMullan '22 posted two points including her first career assist on Senior Day.
 
The game was dominated in the early going by the Cardinals who outshot Williams 12-2 on their way to establishing a 5-0 lead after the first quarter. Lai was involved early and often, scoring three of the first four goals for Wesleyan in open play. Greenwald also scored while Baine put in a goal from close range with 29 seconds left heading into the second.

In the second, Baine scored again, this time on the player-up advantage before Balicki netted her first of the day as Wesleyan led 7-0 before the Ephs scored their first goal 3:34 into the quarter. It was back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the second with Lai and Abbey Logan '22 scoring as the Cardinals led 9-3 at the break.
 
With Williams still within reach, Wesleyan snuffed out any potential comeback bid early on in the second half as Gil Horst '23, Kiara Tangney '25 and Lai all scored in a span of 2:32 to hand Wesleyan a 13-4 lead midway through the frame. Lai's goal in that sequence was her fifth of the day and marked her 50^th of the season.
 
Late on in the game, Wesleyan continued to find success on offense as Lucy Gretsky '23 scored off McMullan's feed as the junior netted her first of the season before McMullan scored followed by Brooke Nelson '24 and Annabel Cincotta '25 who each put in their second goals of 2022.
 
Shots favored Wesleyan 36-19 for the game while the Cardinals set a new season-low with just 12 turnovers. The Cardinals sported a 18-10 advantage in draw controls and converted 3-of-6 free position shots.
 
All three Cardinal goalkeepers played with Abby Wolk '22 making the start and earning her 11^th win of the season. Corin Grady '22 entered at the start of the third and made two saves in 18:43 minutes while Olivia Klein '24 played the final 10:20 and made one save.
 
Tangney was all over the field, stuffing the stat sheet with eight draw controls, two caused turnovers, two ground balls and one goal. The past two games, Tangney has four points, five ground balls, three caused turnovers and 15 draw controls combined.
 
Indigo Pellegrini de Paur '21, G'22 made contributions in multiple categories as well, finishing with five draw controls, three caused turnovers and one ground ball.
 
Wesleyan heads into their regular season finale on Wednesday night as the Cardinals head to Conn. College for a 6 PM start.