MIDDLETOWN, CT. – Wesleyan men's hockey had their most successful weekend of the season on the final two days of the regular season, defeating intrastate rival and nationally ranked Trinity twice to clinch their first ever NESCAC regular season title and the #1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. The Cardinals came into this weekend six points out of first place, but two enormous wins over then NESCAC-leading Bantams propelled Wesleyan to a tie atop the conference. The Cardinals won the tiebreaker due to head-to-head victories and will now look on to their NESCAC quarterfinals matchup against #8 seeded Williams next weekend.

After a incredibly physical battle on Friday it was more of the same on Saturday. Both teams tried to set the tone with big hits and flurries of shots on net. After an early Bantams' score, the Cardinals came back with two unanswered goals to make it two wins in two days over Trinity, making it the first time Wesleyan has swept their NESCAC counterpart since the 2006-07 season. Wesleyan ends their impressive 2022-23 regular season with a record of 15-6-3 (11-4-3 NESCAC). No. 14 Trinity ends theirs at 16-7-1 (13-4-1 NESCAC).

On Friday the teams combined for 17 penalties and two ejections, Saturday wasn't as filled with violations but kept the same type of energy. After eight minutes of back-and forth play the two teams traded power play chances. Wesleyan had the man-up situation first, however it was Trinity who had the best opportunity of those two minutes with Kyle Tomaso intercepting the puck at Wesleyan's blue line and going one-on-one with Erik Voloshin '24. Voloshin made a beautiful left pad save to keep the game even. Trinity managed two shots on net during their power play chance, both of which once again turned away by the Cards junior goalie.

It seemed as though the game was going to head into the 2^nd period deadlocked at zero, before No. 14 Trinity snuck one in with 3:22 remaining in the 1^st period. John Campomenosi circled around the back of the net and delivered a centering pass into the slot that found Brandon Cimino who had his shot sneak past Voloshin for the first goal of the contest. The Bantams reeled off five more shots on goal over the course of the final two and a half minutes of the 1^st, but the Cards goalie stood tall to keep the game within reach heading into the 2^nd.

The Bantams came out hungry for the equalizer, getting shot after shot on net over the first few minutes of the 2^nd period. Voloshin once again came up big stopping all six shots that came his way in that two minute span, including a pair of back to back pad saves four minutes in. Wesleyan only managed two shots in that same time, but their third found the back of the net to even the score at one at the 5:17 mark. D.J Dixon '24 was able to deflect a clearance attempt by the Bantams defenseman that was then gathered by Owen Sweet '25 who sent a beautiful cross back to Dixon for the one-timer and the game was even at one apiece. Ethan Davidson '26 almost had the go-ahead goal just minutes later, but his shot ricocheted off the post and the game went into the 3^rd tied at one.

Trinity opened with a Riley Prattson shot that rang off the post, but the Cardinals immediately found their footing. Dixon made a pass across his own zone to Jake Lachance '23 who launched a long outlet pass to the Bantams' blue line. The pass deflected off a Trinity defenseman and was quickly taken away by Sweet who had his backhanded shot find the back of the net before being taken down and crashing into the boards to give Wesleyan a 2-1 advantage.

The takedown gave the Cardinals a power play, but they were unable to record a shot on goal. Voloshin was spectacular all night and it continued in the final 10 minutes of the game as the Bantams desperately unloaded handfuls of shots towards him. The teams played four on four at the four-minute mark, but they remained unable to score on each other leading to the final two minutes of play. Trinity pulled their goalie following both the players returning to the ice. Playing six-on five the 14^th ranked team in the country produced a series of shots, but Wesleyan's defense held. Sequential blocked shots by Sweet then Lachance, followed by a Voloshin save sealed the deal and gave the Cardinals a 2-1 home victory in the regular season finale.

Wesleyan was outshot by the Bantams 31-25. Voloshin made 30 enormous saves including 13 in the second period alone. The junior goalie now has back-to-back 30+ save performances against the nationally ranked Bantams. Sweet scores his 10^th goal of the season while adding an assist on the other Wesleyan score. Dixon adds his 7^th goal of the season, also assisting on the Sweet game-winner for his 5^th multi-point game of 2022-23. Lachance contributes his team-leading 19^th assist of the season.

Wesleyan earns a #1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament and will play host to #8 Williams in the quarterfinals which will be played Saturday, February 25^th at 2 pm.