Box Score MIDDLETOWN, CT. – The 15^th ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team was defeated by the number one team in the nation Saturday afternoon at Jackson Field. Tufts put together one of the highest scoring first halves in all of division three this season with 19 goals in the opening 30 minutes to get out to a 19-5 halftime lead. The Cardinals battled back in the second half, outscoring the Jumbos 6-2 in the 4^th to trim the final score to under double-digits. Tufts stays undefeated at 13-0 (8-0 NESCAC), earning their 13^th straight victory. Wesleyan drops to 7-5 (4-4 NESCAC) with the loss.

The Jumbos opened quickly, putting together the first nine goals of the game all within the first 13 minutes of the game. Tufts scored the first three goals of the contest in less than three minutes, leading to a Wesleyan timeout. The number one team in the country came out of the break and did more of the same, adding four more goals over the next two minutes to extend their lead to 6-0 just over halfway through the 1^st quarter. They added three more over the course of the next six minutes, capped off by a Charlie Tagliaferri score to make it 9-0 with two minutes left.

Wesleyan got on the board in the dying minutes of the 1^st quarter, with Charlie Hoban '25 finding room to get his shot off with under two to go in the opening quarter. D.J Dixon '24 found Pat Doherty '23 just one minute later and the Cardinals built some momentum going into the 2^nd quarter of play.

The 2^nd quarter started the same as the 1^st, with the Jumbos scoring a handful of quick unanswered goals to extend their lead out to 12. Wesleyan fought back with two consecutive goals to trim the deficit back to 10. First, it was CK Giancola '24 finding the back of the net for the first time today, followed by a score by Justin Hazard '23 and the score moved to 14-4. The Jumbos closed with five of the last six goals of the half, including a score with just two second left of the clock as a slick pass from Declan Murphy found the cutting Joey Waldbaum for the 19^th goal of the first half.

The two teams traded a handful of goals to open the second period of play. The Jumbos opened with a man-up score two minutes in, which was followed by scores by Wesleyan's Giancola and Jack Raba '23. Tufts continued to find holes in the Wesleyan defense in the 3^rd quarter, adding three more scores, but Giancola and Doherty kept Wesleyan alive combining to score the next three goals for the Cardinals making it 23-10 going into the final 15 minutes of play.

Wesleyan opened the 4^th quarter with three unanswered goals in the first five minutes to trim the Tufts lead to 10 once again. Hazard added his 2^nd of the game , while Will Miller '26 and Nick Rodi '22 secured their first of the contest. Wesleyan would continue to put pressure on the Jumbos defense in the final quarter of play with Raba, Jack Pacheco '22, and Matt May '25 scoring in the final seven minutes of action, but it wasn't enough as the top team in the country came away with the 25-16 victory.

Giancola and Doherty score three goals apiece for the Cardinals, for Giancola it is his 6^th hat trick of the season. Hoban scored his first goal of the season, while Pacheco adds just his 2^nd. For Wesleyan, the nine-point loss is the largest of the season.

Wesleyan will look to bounce back in a non-conference game against Springfield College. The game will be played in Springfield, Massachusetts on Wednesday April 19^th at 7 pm.