MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After going down 2-0 early in the first quarter, the No. 12 nationally ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team scored the final 18 goals of the game, defeating the Privateers 18-2 on a chilly Wednesday night from Citrin Field. Wesleyan's (2-0) two goals allowed are the lowest total the Cardinals have allowed in a game since 2014. Maritime (1-4) has lost three straight.
The Cardinals found themselves trailing 2-0 after not even five minutes had elapsed, but
Matt Gill '23 scored 14 seconds after the Privateers went up by two which began the 18-0 scoring run throughout the remainder of play.
Wesleyan managed just two more goals in the first quarter, with
CK Giancola '24 scoring on the man-up before Gill scored his second of the night, as Privateer goalkeeper Ben McGrady saved six of the nine Cardinal shots on goal in the frame.
Another three goals came in the second quarter, each scored by a different Cardinal.
DJ Dixon '24 crashed in for an unassisted goal before Gill completed his hat trick and then fed
Justin Hazard '23 to make it 6-2 at the half.
The game was largely decided in the third quarter wherein the Cardinals controlled play, scoring eight goals, outshot Maritime 18-3, and won all seven faceoffs in the quarter. The balanced goal scoring continued as 12 different Cardinals scored 12 total goals in the second half.
Ben Burns '26 netted a man-up goal just 21 seconds into the second half and just 2:33 later, it was 11-2 Cardinals after
Kevin Talbot '24 won a faceoff and scored on the rush upfield.
Matt May '25 scored his first career goal early in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals added four more goals before the final horn sounded.
Wesleyan owned sizeable leads in ground balls (50-30), faceoff wins (17-4), and shots (49-26) while the Cardinals went 3-for-5 on the man-up and didn't allow Maritime to score on any of their four extra man opportunities.
Gill hit a career milestone, becoming the 36
th Cardinal in program history to score 100 career points. Gill racked up a team-leading eight points (four goals, four assists), giving him exactly 100 points (41 goals, 59 assists) in 25 career games at the end of play.
Jack Raba '23 totaled four points (one goal, three assists) while Hazard scored twice and dished out two assists for his four-point night. Ginacola finished with three points (two goals, one assist) as 13 Cardinals scored at least one goal in the big victory.
Nolan Collins '23 led a tremendous defensive display with five ground balls while matching his career-high with five caused turnovers.
Matt Rettinger '25 and
Charlie Wilmot '26 each finished with four ground balls while
Emmett Schillinger '25,
Lucca Casagrande '26, and
Jack Devlin '24 each posted two caused turnovers.
In net,
Colin Hanley '23 got the start and played 50+ minutes, registering six saves and three ground balls.
Drew Skibniewski '23 came on late and made one save with no goals allowed.
Wesleyan dominated at the X all night, with Talbot going 7-for-8 while
Tyler Campbell '25 finished 6-for-8 with three ground balls.
Devin Alton '25 also went 3-for-3 with two ground balls.
Next up for Wesleyan is a trip to Hoboken where the Cardinals will take on Stevens at 1:00 PM on Saturday.
