MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Trailing 9-8 at the half, the #2 seed Wesleyan men's lacrosse team flipped the script in the second half, outscoring #7 Trinity 7-0 in the 3^rd quarter and 10-1 in the final 30 minutes, to ease past the Bantams 18-10 on Saturday afternoon from Jackson Field in the NESCAC Quarterfinal round. By way of today's win, combined with #8 Hamilton's 14-13 OT upset of #1 Tufts, Wesleyan (13-3) plays host to the semifinal round and championship game of the NESCAC Tournament next weekend.
 
Facing a Trinity team that had beaten the Cardinals in their last two meetings, including a 10-9 OT thriller in Hartford on April 10, combined with Wesleyan missing out on the playoffs last season, the Cardinals had plenty of motivation playing in front of a packed crowd of 500+ on the grass at Jackson Field.
 
DJ Dixon '24 gave the home faithful something to cheer about early, scoring the game's first goal 48 seconds into play on what was the first possession of the contest. The two sides traded goals over the ensuing 14+ minutes, heading into the second quarter all square at 3-3.
 
Wesleyan gained some separation with a 3-0 run to open the second quarter. Ben Burns '26 buried a rebound before CK Giancola '24 ripped a right-handed shot to the upper right corner of the cage. James Bailey '26 then hit Justin Hazard '23 with a no-look pass just 12 feet from goal, as Hazard spun and scored to make it 6-3.
 
Just as the Cardinals looked to have gained a foothold, Trinity bounced back with a 6-1 run over the ensuing 5:52, as five different goal scorers gave the Bantams their first lead of the game. In desperate need of a goal to stymie the Bantam run, Jack Raba '23 picked Ben Burns '26 out with a pass through the teeth of the Trinity defense, as Burns finished from in close with 24 seconds left in the quarter, making it 9-8 Trinity at the half.
 
After giving up six goals in the second quarter, the Cardinals came out of halftime and took the game to the visitors, hitting Trinity with a 7-0 third quarter which ultimately led to the 10-1 second half and eight-goal final margin.
 
Wesleyan secured the opening faceoff and Dixon scored on the first possession to even the score at 9-9. Conor Selfridge '26 came up with saves on consecutive Trinity possessions, keeping the score tied, before Giancola completely took the game over with a goal-scoring spree. He shielded off three Bantam defenders, netting his first of the quarter and fourth of the game with 9:43 left, as the Cardinals retook a 10-9 lead.
 
Giancola unleashed another rocket shot into the upper right corner, and after Raba assisted goals from Hazard and Dixon, Giancola sprinted past his defender and made a charge towards the crease to score his sixth of the game. Giancola scored his fourth of the quarter in the late stages, reaching low to secure a pass from Dixon, before again blasting a shot bar-down to give Wesleyan a 15-9 heading into the fourth.
 
Trinity scored on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but that was the only goal of the half for the Bantams, as Giancola scored again a few minutes later to restore the six-goal advantage. Hazard completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal before assisting on a Bailey goal before the final horn sounded on an 18-10 win for the Cardinals.
 
Giancola's eight goals matches a team record and NESCAC Tournament record, both of which had been set just twice before. He tied the Wesleyan record first set by Bruce McKenna '84 against New Haven in 1984 and matched by Harry Stanton '18 against Tufts in 2017. The NESCAC Tournament record of eight goals has only been achieved twice, most-recently in 2016.
 
Hazard had a big day as well, finishing with three goals and four assists for seven points, matching the highest point total of his career against a NESCAC opponent. Raba quarterbacked the Wesleyan offense, matching his career-high with five assists. Dixon tied his season-high with five points (three goals, two assists) while Bailey had five points including four assists, which ties his career-high.
 
Charlie Hoban '25 totaled three caused turnovers and two ground balls while Jared Cohen '25 had two caused turnovers to lead the Cardinal defense.
 
Selfridge was steady throughout, finishing with 13 saves while he made six stops with just one goal allowed in the second half to earn the win in his first career postseason start.
 
Tyler Campbell '25 led the faceoff unit, going 10-for-19 with four ground balls.
 
The Cardinals will play host to the NESCAC Tournament semifinal round and championship game for just the second time in team history and first since 2018. Awaiting Wesleyan in the semifinal is #8 Hamilton, who stunned the five-time defending NESCAC Champion and #1 seed Tufts in a 14-13 OT victory in Medford. Wesleyan defeated the Continentals 17-7 in the regular season in Clinton.