CLINTON, N.Y. – Coming off Wednesday's overtime defeat at Trinity, the No. 10 ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team rebounded in a big way, toppling Hamilton in a 17-7 road win on a chilly Saturday afternoon on Steuben Field. Wesleyan (9-3, 6-2 NESCAC) sits in sole possession of third place in the league standings, while improving to 13-0 all-time against the Continentals (6-6, 3-6 NESCAC).
 
In a game Wesleyan led wire-to-wire, the tone was set just 10 seconds in as Jackson Tinari '26 won the opening faceoff to Joe Hurton '27 who led Charlie Wilmot '26 with a pass upfield. Wilmot carried for a few paces and lined up a shot about 10 yards from cage and the sophomore didn't miss as it was 1-0 Wesleyan right from the jump.
 
The Cardinals scored on their next possession as Ben Burns '26, who hit the post just 38 seconds earlier, buried his first of three goals on the day with an assist going to James Bailey '26. Hamilton answered back with their first and only goal of the frame, but Wesleyan scored another four to lead 6-1 after one. CK Giancola '24 netted a pair of unassisted tallies while Alex Moynihan '24 and DJ Dixon '24 also scored in the first.
 
After scoring six in the first, the Wesleyan attack was at it again, scoring six more in the second quarter, with the combination of Giancola and Burns either scoring or assisting on all six. Giancola completed a natural hat trick with the first two goals of the second quarter. Hamilton scored three of the next four goals to cut the deficit to 9-4, but three Cardinal goals over the final 1:37 of the first half sent Wesleyan into halftime with a 12-4 advantage.
 
The script flipped completely in the third quarter as the two sides played to a scoreless frame, with the two goalkeepers combining for 11 saves. Wesleyan outshot the Continentals 15-6 in the third quarter, but neither side produced a goal as the Cardinals kept hold of their 12-4 lead. Conor Selfridge '26 made four saves while Hamilton's Jake Fried made seven stops.
 
Wesleyan put the game away in the fourth as goals from Moynihan and Hurton made it 14-5 before both teams emptied their benches over the final 5+ minutes. The Cardinals produced three goals in the final 3:19 as Matt Morrow '27, Nolan Samson '27, and Devin O'Sullivan '25 all found the back of the net to finish off a 10-goal NESCAC road win.
 
The Cardinals nearly doubled-up the Continentals in shots (56-32) including a 45-21 advantage over the first three quarters. Wesleyan held commanding leads in ground balls (50-33) and faceoffs (17-10) while the Cardinals held Hamilton to a 0-for-3 showing on extra man opportunities.
 
Giancola produced a six-point game with five goals and one assist, which is his highest single-game point total since March 10 against Roanoke. Burns scored three to go along with a career-high six ground balls and three caused turnovers.  The sophomore Burns has multi-goal games in 11-of-12 games played this season while he has scored in all 12 contests.
 
Moynihan finished with two goals and one assist while 11 additional Cardinals finished with at least one point in a great all-around showing. Hurton played a big role on the faceoffs, finishing with six ground balls. Tyler Campbell '25 led the team at the X, going 10-for-15, while Tinari finished 5-for-9 and Jack Stanislaw '27 went 2-for-3.
 
Selfridge continues to play well in cage, allowing a season-low six goals with 12 saves for a career-best single-game save percentage of .667. In his four starts, Selfridge has finished with a save percentage of at least .500 in three of those games.
 
Wesleyan returns home for a Wednesday afternoon non-conference showdown against Springfield at 4:30 PM.