MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – A 7-3 first quarter lead turned into a 12-4 halftime advantage, which proved more than enough for the No. 16 ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team as the Cardinals coasted past Colby, 21-12, in NESCAC action on Saturday afternoon from Citrin Field. Wesleyan (4-1, 2-0 NESCAC) avenges a 10-9 loss in Waterville to the Mules (1-3, 0-3 NESCAC) last season.
Colby was very much in the game early, leading 2-1 after five minutes of play, but a 6-0 scoring run from the Cardinals wherein the Mules were held without a goal for nearly 10 minutes, set the stage for the remainder of the first half.
CK Giancola '24 buried two goals in 39 seconds to start the run while he completed his hat trick three minutes later.
Emmett Schillinger '25 finished in transition, as the sophomore's first career goal made it 7-2 Wesleyan to cap the run. The Cardinals outshot Colby 21-7 in the first quarter alone and committed just one turnover.
The Mules scored with three seconds left in the first quarter to break up the unanswered run of Cardinal goals but Wesleyan scored the first three goals of the second quarter and went on to outscore the Mules 5-1 in the frame to take an eight-goal lead into halftime.
Jacob Braunstein '23 scored his first of the season while
Justin Hazard '23 scored his first of five on the day.
After dishing out three assists in the early going,
Will Miller '26 scored his first of the day late in the first half before Hazard completed his hat trick off a Braunstein feed that made it 12-4 at the break.
The production didn't slow down to start the second half as Wesleyan scored the first three goals of the third quarter to take their biggest lead of the game at 15-4. Miller, Hazard, and
Ben Burns '26 all found the back of the net in the first 1:24 of the frame.
The two sides traded goals for the remainder of play but with a double-digit cushion, Wesleyan coasted down the stretch to the victory. Shot totals favored the Cardinals 60-41 while the ground balls were +20 in favor of Wesleyan (47-27). On the man up, the Cardinals went 4-for-5 with Burns scoring twice on the extra man advantage.
Giancola played the game of his life, busting through with a career-high seven points, easily eclipsing his previous career-best of four entering the game. He netted a career-high five goals, good enough for the second hat trick of his career, while he added three ground balls which is another career-high.
Hazard finished with a season-high seven points on five goals and two assists, tied for the second-highest single-game scoring total of his career. Miller recorded a career-high six points on two goals and a game-high four assists.
DJ Dixon '24 tallied five points (two goals, three assists) while
Jack Raba '23 went for three points (one goal, two assists).
Kevin Talbot '24 dominated at the X, going 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) on the day with six ground balls and one goal. He is now 31-for-44 (70.5 percent) on the season in his faceoff opportunities.
Charlie Silver '25 recorded a career-high six ground balls while
Nolan Collins had another big day with five ground balls and three caused turnovers to lead the defensive effort.
Colin Hanley '23 made a season-high 13 saves with 11 goals allowed in 57 minutes of action. That marks Hanley's first double digit save performance of the season.
Doug McCarthy (two goals, two assists) and Jack Goller (three goals, one assist) led the Colby attack with four points apiece. Davis Strabley racked up five ground balls and two caused turnovers while Matt Suffredini played all 60 minutes in net and made 14 saves.
Next up for the Cardinals is a Wednesday night home game against Coast Guard (3-2) who come in having lost two straight (10-7 to Maritime and 16-8 to Babson).
