MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – In a return to Jackson Field for the first time since 2019 for the No. 14 nationally ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team, fans were treated to an excellent back-and-forth game that came down to the final minutes. With the game tied at 14, DJ Dixon '24 worked his way through the Conn. College defense and netted his sixth goal of the day and the ultimate game-winner as the Cardinals slipped past the Camels, 15-14.
 
By way of this win, paired with Middlebury's 13-10 victory over Williams, Wesleyan (11-4, 6-4 NESCAC) has secured the #4 seed for the NESCAC Tournament and will get to face the #5 seeded Panthers at Jackson Field on Saturday afternoon. Start time will be determined on Thursday.
 
On a day where the wind proved a significant challenge for Wesleyan's usually dynamic passing game, the Cardinals relied more on isolation goals than normal and the go-to guy was Dixon. Coming off a disappointing one point effort at Williams last Saturday, Dixon responded with a career-high six goals, tied for the most by a Cardinal in a single-game this season.
 
Dixon's sixth goal was the decider as the Cardinals had just tied the score at 14-14 with Jake Sexton '22 finding the back of the net with 3:49 remaining. Aidan Gaudet won the ensuing faceoff for Conn. and the Cardinal defense came through with a clutch stop as Sam Jewett '25 denied Nick Farnham with one of his 12 saves.
 
Wesleyan's clearance was successful and after a Cardinal timeout, the ball swung to CK Giancola '24 on the right wing. Spotting an open Dixon in the middle, the ball came to the midfielder already on five goal in the game. He received the pass, beat his defender going left and fired a goal into the lower right corner of the cage to put Wesleyan out in front.
 
A crucial faceoff followed and with the loose ball at midfield, Gaudet lunged and flung the ball backwards towards the Camels' defensive zone only to find no teammate waiting for the ground ball as it rolled out of bounds. With possession, the Cardinals managed to avoid the Conn. pressure up until the 10-second mark.
 
Justin Hazard '23 lost possession and after the Camels' goalkeeper Will Rice picked up the ground ball, a long pass was sent upfield. As the clock ticked under five seconds, the pass managed to find the stick of Jared Rainville who had a wide open Jack Tenzer in front of cage. In the closing seconds, Rainville's pass was bobbled in front of an open cage by Tenzer and as the ball hit the grass, the final horn sounded and the Wesleyan bench celebrated what was a thrilling come-from-behind win.
 
Battling the elements throughout, neither side adjusted well to the strong wind gusts in the early going as the first goal didn't come until there was 5:55 remaining in the first quarter. Hazard put an end to the scoreless stretch before Matt Gill '23 netted a man-up marker to make it 2-0 Cardinals.
 
For the next 8+ minutes, the Camels completely dominated play, scoring seven unanswered including a natural hat trick from Tenzer before Patrick Linehan scored on the man-up and Patrick Atkins scored with six seconds left in the first to make it 5-2 Conn. After two more goals to start the second, it was 7-2 Camels nearing the midway point of the second.
 
Needing a spark, Wesleyan certainly found one as the Cardinals went on a 5-1 run to close the first half, getting two goals apiece from Dixon and Hazard, including a man-up strike from Hazard with 37 seconds left in the half that made it 8-7 Camels at the break.
 
Wesleyan reclaimed the lead on a Spencer Robbins '22 goal midway through the third quarter before Conn. snapped a 15+ minute goalless drought with a strike from Gus Mazzocca that tied the score at 9. The two sides traded goals into the fourth before Sam Jean '23 and Dixon scored just 22 seconds apart that made it 12-11 Cardinals with 11:16 to play.
 
The game continued to tetter back-and-forth as Conn. followed with consecutive goals before John Maranto '25 tied the game back up at 13-13. Rainville then answered for the Camels with 6:39 remaining before the Wesleyan rally saw Sexton find the back of the net off a great feed from Giancola, setting up a thrilling final two minutes that featured the Dixon game-winner.
 
Dixon's six goals are easily a new career-high, as the sophomore's previous best was three goals (accomplished twice). Hazard put in four points (three goals, one assist) as he is now up to a team-leading 71 points (48 goals, 23 assists) on the season. Sexton and Robbins each finished with one goal and two assists.
 
Kyle Camphausen '22 led the midfield unit with five ground balls and one caused turnover. Ben Kaplan '22 led the defense with three ground balls and three caused turnovers while Charlie Silver '25 had four ground balls and one caused turnover.
 
Jewett was solid in the cage, totaling 12 saves in his second career start. Wesleyan owned a 19-13 advantage in faceoff wins as Tyler Campbell '25 went 12-for-20, Kevin Talbot '24 posted a 5-for-9 effort and Julian Barba '23 chipped in a 2-for-3 day. The Cardinals also went 3-for-3 on the man-up in the win.
 
Wesleyan heads into their 19^th all-time appearance in the NESCAC Tournament, having won the NESCAC title in 2009 and 2017. The Cardinals are 3-5 all-time in the NESCAC Tournament against Middlebury and Wesleyan is looking for a little redemption as their last NESCAC Tournament appearance saw the Cardinals suffer an 11-7 home loss in the Quarterfinals to the Panthers in 2019.