MIDDLETOWN, CT. – The 11^th ranked Wesleyan women's lacrosse team followed their dominating opening day performance on Saturday against Bates with an equally as impressive victory Wednesday night at Smith Field against the Beavers of Babson. The Cardinals completed their second straight 15-goal game in a 15-5 victory over Babson. There were our Cardinals with multiple goals on the day, with Olivia Lai '23 and Laura Baine '24 leading the way with four goals apiece. Wesleyan will improve to 2-0 (1-0) on the young season, while Babson drops to 0-3 to start 2023.

There were several impressive performances on the night for the Cards, but four-goal performances from Lai and Baine stand out. Lai secures her 12^th such game of her career, and her first of 2023. The senior attack also finished with three ground balls and was a perfect 2/2 on free position attempts. Baine records her 5^th four-goal game of her career. The junior attack also added and assist on the night.

Other impressive individual statistics came from Chessy Greenwald '23 and Kate Balicki '23. The two seniors had five and three points respectfully. Greenwald did a bit of everything or the Cardinals, pouring in two goals and three assists to go with three ground balls. It is the 3^rd time in her career she has produced at least three assists, and the second time she has done it in as many games to start 2023. Balicki added a goal and two assists. The senior midfielder now has five career games with at least two assists.

The Cardinals and Beavers felt each other out over the course of the first 10 minutes of action, as the game remained deadlocked at zero. The best scoring chance during that timeframe came from the Cardinals who had a free position opportunity, but Baine had her shot sail high. The Cardinals got on the board with their first goal just under nine minutes in, with Baine coming through off the dish by Greenwald. Wesleyan came right back with goal number two less than a minute later this time with Lai netting her first of four goals on the evening. The Beavers responded with their first goal with 9:42 left in the 1^st quarter, with Emily Curtis coming through on the free position chance.

Wesleyan ended the 1^st quarter with three unanswered goals to extend the lead to 5-1, with two of them coming off the stick of Kendall Mittleman '23. Wesleyan continued their attack in the 2^nd quarter, adding two more to open the 2^nd 15 minutes of play. Both came off free position opportunities, with the first coming after the ball was worked around eventually finding Baine for her 2^nd of the contest. The 7^th goal came on a free position shot by Balicki. The Beavers came back with three unanswered goals to end the half and get themselves back in the game at 7-4.

A relatively quiet 3^rd quarter only saw a combined three goals in 15 minutes. Lai was able to break the scoreless drought 10 minutes in to the 3^rd with an unassisted score which extended the lead to 8-4. After the Beavers came back with a score of their own courtesy of Curtis, Lai came back with another to head into the final quarter of play with a 9-5 advantage.

The Cards dominated the final quarter of play, adding six goals while holding the Beavers scoreless to come away with the decisive 15-5 victory. Gil Horst '23 started it off with a score to break double digits on the night, quickly followed by Lai's 4^th and final goal of the evening. Baine added two more in the coming minutes and the game began to get out of hand. The Cardinals finished with two more goals to reach their total of 15 on the night, their 2^nd straight 15-goal performance to open the 2023 season.

Wesleyan has a huge non-conference matchup coming up, with No. 6 Franklin and Marshall waiting on March 11^th. The Cardinals will travel to Lancaster, PA to meet in a top 15 battle at 12 pm.