MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Knotted at 5-5 early in the second quarter, the No. 12 ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team used a 11-2 over the ensuing 27+ minutes of play before coasting to a 19-13 win over Conn. College on Wednesday afternoon from Jackson Field. Wesleyan (12-3, 8-2 NESCAC) completes the regular season as the #2 seed for the NESCAC Tournament which begins with the quarterfinal round on Saturday with the Cardinals playing host to #7 Trinity at 3 PM.
 
Finishing the regular season off much like the way it started, the Cardinal offense was firing on all cylinders in the win over the Camels. This marks the seventh time in 15 regular season games in 2024 that Wesleyan has scored at least 19 goals. Already with games of 22 and 20 goals against NESCAC competition this season, the Cardinals enter the postseason riding a four-game win streak, having scored at least 16 goals in all four victories.
 
A slow start saw either side score for the opening five minutes before Charlie Knapp '26 beat the Camels' goalkeeper Will Rice inside the near post on an unassisted goal 5:36 into play. After CK Giancola '24 ripped a man-up score, Conn. responded with three of the next four goals to tie the score at 3-3. More goals followed to end the first as Justin Hazard '23 scored off a Giancola feed, then the two reversed as Hazard assisted a Giancola goal to help give Wesleyan a 5-4 lead.
 
Liam Horkan scored for Conn. 51 seconds into the second quarter to tie the score at 5-5, but it was the Cardinals who went on to dominate over the next 2+ quarters, ultimately building a 10-goal margin in the fourth quarter. Wesleyan outscored Conn. 7-2 in the second quarter, with Ben Burns '26 scoring three and assisting on another to have a hand in four of the seven Cardinal goals in the frame. The third Burns goal of the second quarter came with just one second left as Hazard secured a ground ball in transition who fed Burns right in front of cage for the buzzer-beater.
 
Leading 12-6 at halftime, the Cardinals put the game out of reach with a 4-0 run in the third quarter, with goals coming from four different players. Burns netted his fourth of the day to start the run which also featured scores from Joe Hurton '27, DJ Dixon' 24, and Alex Moynihan '24.
 
Hazard netted his second goal of the day just 38 seconds into the fourth quarter and Jack Raba '23 gave Wesleyan an 18-8 lead with an unassisted tally more than three minutes later. The Camels went on a 5-1 run over the final 10 minutes of the game, but it wasn't enough to overcome the big scoring run that won the game for Wesleyan.
 
Three Cardinals finished with five points each including Burns (four goals, one assist), Giancola (two goals, three assists), and Hazard (two goals, three assists). Raba and Dixon each finished with three points while a group of three Cardinals recorded two points each.
 
Jackson Tinari '26 (9-for-14) and Tyler Campbell '25 (9-for-15) combined to go 18-for-29 at the X while Campbell had four ground balls and one assist.
 
Charlie Hoban '25 totaled three caused turnovers and two ground balls to help lead the defensive effort.
 
Conor Selfridge '26 was solid once again in cage, making 10 saves with nine goals allowed in 51:11 minutes of work. Sam Jewett '25 came on for the final 8:49 and made five saves with four goals allowed.
 
The Cardinals are back in the NESCAC Tournament for the 19^th time in team history and make a return appearance after having missed the postseason in 2023. Awaiting Wesleyan is a rematch against Trinity, who are the last team to beat the Cardinals in a 10-9 OT win for the Bantams in Hartford on April 10.