WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Despite dominating faceoffs to the tone of 28-6, turnovers cost the No. 13 nationally ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team in a 17-13 loss at Williams on Sunday afternoon. Wesleyan (10-4, 5-4 NESCAC) suffered their second straight loss to the Ephs (7-7, 5-4 NESCAC) while both teams are currently sitting tied for fourth in the league standings with one regular season game remaining.
With the Little Three title on the line, this back-and-forth contest saw three separate runs of four or more unanswered goals, two for Williams and one for Wesleyan. Fortunately for the Ephs, the third scoring run came late as Williams used a 5-0 run to overcome an 11-10 deficit late in the third quarter, building a 16-11 lead midway through the fourth that held up in the end.
In a matchup that favored Wesleyan in face-offs on paper, that certainly played out on Sunday as the Cardinals recorded an incredible 28 face-off wins compared to just six for Williams. Garnering 22 extra possessions, the Wesleyan offense scored 13 goals and outshot the Ephs 47-40 but turnovers played a big role in the outcome as Williams finished +13 in turnover margin, forcing 23 Cardinal turnovers compared to just 10 for Wililams in the game. Combined with Williams' goalkeeper Matt Freitas making 19 saves on 32 shots on-goal, the Ephs had enough to overcome the significant face-off margin in favor of Wesleyan.
Williams stepped on the gas early in this one, building a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter with Calvin Caputo registering three of the five goals including one just 36 seconds into play. Wesleyan was outshot 16-7 in the quarter and committed seven turnovers as the slow start was reflected in the score.
Needing a spark, Wesleyan found success on offense to start the second, going on a 5-1 run in a span of just 5:49 with
Justin Hazard '23 and
Will Shull '25 each scoring twice in the scoring run. Shull scored both his goals in a span of just 23 seconds before Hazard tied the score at 6-6 with a man-up goal off an assist from goalkeeper
Sam Jewett '24.
Just as the Cardinals made up the four-goal deficit, the Ephs answered right back with three unanswered goals before the half and adding another early in the third quarter as Williams restored their four-goal advantage.
The momentum continued to sway between both sides as Wesleyan answered right back with a 5-0 run of their own, seeing two man-up goals in the third quarter run, capped by Shull completing his first career hat trick with 4:20 remaining that put Wesleyan out in front, 11-10, for the first time in the game.
With all momentum and the face-offs continuing to go Wesleyan's way, the Ephs came up with a pivotal late third quarter run, scoring there times in the final 2+ minutes including twice with under 30 seconds remaining in the frame to hold a 13-11 lead heading into the fourth. That late run continued in the fourth as the Ephs scored there more times, extending their run to 6-0 while holding the Cardinals scoreless for more than 15 minutes of play.
Wesleyan scored a pair of goals just 17 seconds apart to make it 16-13 with 3:25 remaining, signaling a late comeback was possible, but three straight possessions ending in turnovers put the game away for the Ephs.
Sam Jean '23 tied his career-high with four points (two goals, two assists) while Shull had a big day, registering his first multi-goal game, scoring four times on Sunday. Hazard finished with two goals and one assist while
Matt Gill '23 posted one goal and two assists.
Kevin Talbot '24 was on his game all throughout the day, winning 23-of-26 face-offs to help Wesleyan establish a 28-6 advantage in that category. Talbot easily set a new single-game career-high in face-off wins, besting his previous mark of 16 at Coast Guard from March 23.
Tyler Campbell '25 also had a strong showing, going 5-for-8 on his face-off opportunities.
Jewett played well in his first career start, posting 15 saves on 32 shots on-goal while adding three ground balls.
Kyle Camphausen '22 led the defensive effort with four ground balls, two caused turnovers and one goal.
Jake Haase had a big day for Williams, recording seven points (thee goals, four assists) with two caused turnovers. Calvin Caputo scored five times for the Ephs while Tim Saffold had four goals.
Wesleyan finishes up the regular season on Wednesday as the Cardinals play host to Conn. College at Jackson Field at 4:30 PM.
