NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Leading 15-7 midway through the third, the No. 14 nationally ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team saw No. 18 Rensselaer make a late game push to cut the deficit to just two with 4:55 remaining, but the Cardinals finished strong to defeat the Engineers 19-14. Wesleyan (13-5) moves to 16-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, recording a win in all eight of their tournament appearances. The Cardinals advance to face the host No. 3 Christopher Newport at 3 PM on Sunday.

• 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket

An explosive start to this game saw Wesleyan build a 5-1 advantage after one that grew into a 7-1 lead early on in the second. The five-goal first quarter saw five different goal scorers for the Cardinals as Matt Gill '23 sprinted with the ball from behind the cage to the left wing where he fired in a low shot that beat RPI goalkeeper Joseph Perry to get the scoring started.
 
Alex Moynihan '24 scored on an isolation play from up top just 28 seconds after Gill's goal and Justin Hazard '23 later put in his first of four on the day on a great feed from Jake Sexton '22 as the senior attack had a chance to fire from 15 feet out but instead chose to dump off to Hazard right in front who made one move to beat Perry and make it 3-0 Cardinals.
 
After RPI's Trey Froehlich netted the Engineers' first goal of the game, Tyler Campbell '25 came right back, winning the ensuing faceoff clean, securing the ground ball and firing in a goal just six seconds later. Hazard then found DJ Dixon '24 with just 2.5 seconds left on the clock for a late Wesleyan goal to put the Cardinals up 5-1 after one.
 
In a goal-filled second quarter that saw the two teams combine for 13 goals, Wesleyan outscoring RPI 8-5 in the frame to take a 13-6 lead into the halftime break. Moynihan and Hazard each fired in their second goals of the day to make it 7-1 Wesleyan 3:35 into the quarter.
 
Ryan Raftery found the back of the net for RPI's second of the day but a 4-1 Wesleyan run followed as Sexton scored twice in 1:05 while Hazard completed his hat trick and Riley Larsen '22 scored on the man-up to make it 11-3 Cardinals. The Engineers followed with a 3-0 spurt but two late Cardinal goal made it 13-6 at the break.
 
After trading goals to start the third quarter, RPI mounted a furious comeback bid over the next 15+ minutes as the Engineers nearly erased an eight-goal deficit as the score read 16-14 in favor of Wesleyan with 4:55 remaining in the fourth.
 
RPI started their 7-1 run with a man-down goal from Garrett Volley, the first such goal scored on Wesleyan all season. Two more followed before the end of the third as Wesleyan led 15-10 heading into the fourth.
 
CK Giancola '24 made it 16-11 Wesleyan with 7:31 remaining but three unanswered RPI goals in a span of just 1:35 made it just a two-goal game with plenty of time remaining.  With momentum all on their side, RPI's Angelo Venuto won the ensuing faceoff clean and carried in on net, only to be denied by Cardinal goalkeeper Colin Hanley '22.
 
Hanley's big save turned the tide and Wesleyan's offense took care of the rest as DJ Dixon '24 took a heavy hit after picking up a ground ball following Gill's shot that rang off the post. With heavy traffic in front of cage, Dixon managed to corral the loose ball and flick a shot on-net just fractions of a second before being hit with an illegal body check from Garrett Volley, which he was flagged for two minutes.
 
Now down three, RPI still had a chance as they won the next faceoff, only to see Hanley come up with another big denial, this time on Luke Murphy. The Cardinals then cleared and played keep away for more than a minute before inducing a Devon Boyko slashing penalty.
 
Dixon then netted a man-up goal on an empty net and Hayden Leachman '23 put an exclamation point on the victory with another Cardinal goal to seal the 19-14 win.
 
Shot totals favored Wesleyan slightly 50-48 while the Cardinals finished +6 in turnover margin, forcing RPI into 22 compared to just 16 for Wesleyan. RPI won the faceoff battle 21-15 while Wesleyan finished 2-for-5 on the man-up compared to 1-for-4 for the Engineers.
 
Hazard led the Wesleyan attack with four goals and two assists for six points, giving up 87 points (58 goals, 29 assists) in 18 games this season. Three Cardinals added four points each including Sexton (two goals, two assists), Gill (three goals, one assist) and Dixon (three goals, one assist). The 19 goals for Wesleyan is tied for the second-most goals that the Cardinals have ever scored in an NCAA Tournament game.
 
Campbell played an important role, directly responsible for three Cardinal goals as he tallied his first career multi-point game with two goals and one assist. He finished 12-for-30 on faceoffs and tallied nine ground balls.
 
Hanley made eight saves in his first career NCAA Tournament game, including two big ones late in the fourth quarter with RPI threatening. Nolan Collins '23 was all over the field on defense, as the All-NESCAC Second Team selection posted a career-high five caused turnovers.
 
Forehlich led the RPI offense with five points (four goals, one assist) but he was forced into five turnovers. Ryan Raftery posted three goals and one assist while Tyler Nalls had a hat trick.
 
Wesleyan will do battle with Christopher Newport for the first time in program history on Sunday, looking for the program's seventh trip to the NCAA Quarterfinal round.