MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Leading by as much as eight goals, the two-seed Wesleyan women's lacrosse team opened a big lead and held off seven-seed Williams in a 11-6 victory in the NESCAC Quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon from Smith Field. With the win, Wesleyan (14-2) advances to the NESCAC Semifinal round for just the third time in team history, all of which coming in the past three non-pandemic affected seasons.
 
Playing in dreary, windy conditions, the Cardinals leaned on a unit that finished the regular season ranked as the NESCAC's second-best scoring defense. The Ephs managed just two goals in the opening 39:37 of play and finished the game with 22 turnovers. Abby Wolk '22 was stellar in net throughout, making six saves including five in the first half alone, as she picked up the win.
 
The Cardinals set the tone early with three unanswered goals in the opening 6:07 of play. Kate Balicki '23 was on the receiving end of assists from Kendall Mittleman '23 and Gil Horst '23 while Olivia Lai '23 netted her 40^th goal of the season on a free position shot.
 
In the face of the early Cardinal run, Williams was denied on all three of their initial shots on-target in the first as Wolk's three saves kept her team out in front.
 
Heading into the second quarter with a 3-1 lead, the margin stretched to four as Balicki completed her hat trick while Mittleman fired in a free position goal just 1:09 later.
 
Christina Halloran scored to cut the deficit down to three but a couple of key goals just 45 seconds apart in the final minute of the first half made it a 7-2 game at the half. Balicki continued to supply the offense as her fourth point of the first half came on an assist for a Chessy Greenwald '23 goal before Kiara Tangney '25 finished her free position attempt.
 
Wesleyan extended their scoring run to open the second half as three more goals came in a span of 2:32, leaving the Cardinals with their biggest lead of the game at 10-2. Annabel Cincotta '25 continued her scoring streak, netting an unassisted goal, before Bridget Horst '26 ran through the Ephs' defense to make it 9-2.
 
Less than a minute later, Mittleman recorded her second free position goal of the game as the Cardinals led 10-2 with 10:16 left in the third.
 
Williams made their run, scoring four unanswered as the Cardinal offense hit an extended scoreless lull that lasted over 20 minutes, but the eight-goal lead proved too much to overcome. Molly Greer '24 broke the scoreless drought with a free position strike with 2:33 remaining to snuff out any Williams comeback bid.
 
Balicki finished with a game-high four points including three goals and one assist. This marked Balicki's sixth hat trick of the season while upping her career point total to 99 (75 goals, 24 assists) in 39 career games.
 
Mittleman recorded two goals and one assist to go along with three ground balls. Greenwald recorded one goal and one assist to go along with a game-high four ground balls. Eight Cardinals scored in a balanced team effort.
 
Tangney and Erin Trotta '23 each recorded three caused turnovers and two ground balls while Maeve Olson '25 went for two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Gil Horst led the team with four draw controls while Bridget Horst and Lucy Gretsky '23 each finished with three.
 
The Cardinals are set for a semifinal matchup against Tufts on Saturday, May 6 at 3:00 PM on the campus of top-seed Middlebury. Wesleyan claimed a 14-10 victory in Medford in the regular season while the Cardinals look for their first-ever postseason win over the Jumbos (0-2 all-time).