MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After building a 4-0 lead more than midway through the first quarter, the No. 7 nationally ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team saw St. John Fisher rip off a 10-2 run to take a four-goal lead into halftime. Wesleyan fought their way back to a one-goal deficit with 9:05 remaining but saw St. John Fisher close out a 15-13 win in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Saturday from Jackson Field.
 
In the first all-time meeting between the two sides, Wesleyan seized control in the early stages, Ben Burns '26 netted a goal 1:03 into play on the first possession of the contest and CK Giancola '24 scored his first of four on the day two minutes later to make it 2-0. Five more minutes went by and Justin Hazard '23, G'24 found the back of the net twice in a span of 50 seconds as it was 4-0 Wesleyan with 6:19 left in the first quarter.
 
Not to be deterred, St. John Fisher came roaring back with a 4-0 run, with three of the goals being scored or assisted by Matthew Kemmis as the score was level at 4-4 less than five minutes following Hazard's two goals. Burns scored his second of the quarter to put Wesleyan back ahead 5-4 after one.
 
After DJ Dixon '24 netted an unassisted tally on the first Wesleyan possession of the second quarter, making it 6-4, the script completely flipped as St. John Fisher scored six unanswered goals and went on a 7-1 run over the remaining 13+ minutes of play to take an 11-7 lead into halftime. Shots favored St. John Fisher 18-7 in the frame while ground balls swayed heavily in favor of SJF (11-3) as the one-sided quarter proved to be the difference in the end.
 
Wesleyan worked their way back in the game in the third quarter, holding St. John Fisher to just one goal in the stanza, but Wesleyan only scored three goals despite outshooting SJF 15-8 in the quarter. SJF goalkeeper Ben Hammond made four saves in the frame and Wesleyan committed five turnovers which kept the visitors out front 12-10 heading into the fourth.
 
The two sides traded goals in the beginning stages of the fourth before Jack Raba '23, G'24 hit Dixon with a leading pass that led to a go, cutting the deficit to just one with 9:05 remaining. Wesleyan won the ensuing face off and took three shots on their possession looking for a game-tying goal, but the first two missed the cage before Hammond made a save on Burns.
 
Quick in transition, St. Josh Fisher's Jordan Leuze finished a feed from Brady Mason to make it a two-goal game again with 7:24 left. Wesleyan again won the next face off, but two empty possessions on offense proved costly as Matt Slowinski netted a goal for SJF that made it 15-12 with 3:51 left.
 
Tyler Campbell '25 did what he needed to do to keep his team in the game, securing a face off win and scoring an unassisted tally to make it a two-goal game with 3:38 left. After Campbell won the next face off, two more Wesleyan shots missed the cage before a turnover saw the clock dwindle down under two minutes remaining.
 
Wesleyan's defense continued to hold in the final minutes, as the Cardinals had two more possessions with a chance to lower the deficit to one, but Burns was denied by Hammond and again hit the post before Giancola had his shot saved with 19 seconds left, as the horn ultimately sounded on a SJF win.
 
Wesleyan outshot St. John Fisher in three of the four quarters, but the +11 shot margin (18-7) in a pivotal second quarter paved the way for the SJF victory.
 
Hammond made 13 saves in net for SJF while three players (Kemmis 3G, 3A, Leuze 5G, 1A, and Mason 1G, 5A) finished with six points each for the visitors. SJF won the turnover battle, committing 12 compared to 15 for Wesleyan while the ground ball battle was even at 28-28.
 
Wesleyan won 10 face offs in the second half compared to just one for SJF, as the hosts had a 19-12 edge in face off wins for the game. Campbell led the way for Wesleyan, going 15-for-20 with 10 ground balls.
 
Giancola scored four goals and dished out two assists while Raba had six assists, both tying for the team-lead with six points each. Burns had a hat trick while Dixon had three points (2G, 1A).