WATERVILLE, Me. – Opening the season with a Top 10 showdown in Maine, the No. 8 ranked Wesleyan women's lacrosse team was dealt a 9-8 loss to No. 7 Colby on Saturday afternoon. Wesleyan (0-1, 0-1 NESCAC) falls to the Mules (1-0, 1-0 NESCAC) for the sixth straight meeting, the last four of which have all been decided by two goals or less.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in this one, with goals from Dylan Green '26, Becca Dibble '26, and Kyra Browne '26 all coming less than nine minutes into play. It was later 4-1 early in the second quarter as Green scored again, this time on a player-up opportunity with Addie Cummings '26 recording the assist.
 
Turnovers, however, plagued the Cardinals in the remainder of the second quarter as Wesleyan six turnovers over the final 12+ minutes of the first half, allowing the Mules to go on a 4-1 run, closing the deficit and making it a 5-5 score at halftime.
 
Colby took their first lead 2:24 into the third quarter as Julia Jardina netted her fourth goal of the game to make it 6-5 Mules. Green got one back for Wesleyan, completing her hat trick, but Colby responded with two goals in a span of 1:52 to make it 8-6 midway through the third quarter.
 
This time turnovers plagued the Mules as Wesleyan fought back from the two-goal deficit to tie the score at 8-8 at the end of three. Green scored again, giving her the first four-goal game of her career, while Browne slotted in her second goal of the day to even the score heading into the fourth.
 
In the decisive fourth quarter, just one goal was scored, and it was Kins Helmer who slotted Colby in front with a player-up goal with 6:55 remaining that proved to be the difference in the end. Wesleyan had their chances late on as Colby was forced into a pair of turnovers while Izzy Weintraub '26 denied Ainsley Dion with 2:58 remaining but Sam DeLeo '25 had a shot that went wide with 1:53 remaining and Bridget Horst '26 had a shot attempt saved with 34 seconds left.
 
Shot totals favored Wesleyan 25-15 while the Cardinals won the draw control battle 12-9. Each team committed 21 turnovers while Colby went 3-for-3 on free position shot attempts while the Cardinals went 0-for-1 in the contest.
 
Green's four goals came on four shots while Browne added four draw controls with her two goals. DeLeo dished out two assists while Caroline Cervini '27 scored her first career goal. Madeline Johnson '28 recorded four caused turnovers and three ground balls to lead the Cardinal defense. Weintraub made four saves in net.
 
Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday, March 8 at Noon with the team's home opener, a non-conference showdown against Stevens from Smith Field.