MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 4 Wesleyan men's lacrosse team was firing on all cylinders on a chilly Saturday afternoon, dominating Williams in a 22-11 win from Citrin Field. The 11-goal win is the largest victory for the Cardinals (3-1, 2-0 NESCAC) in the all-time series history against the Ephs (2-2, 0-2 NESCAC) while the 22 goals also represent the highest total Wesleyan has ever scored against their Little 3 rival.
The fast-paced back-and-forth battle saw 10 goals scored in the first quarter, all within the first 10 minutes of play, with Williams jumping out to a 3-2 lead before the Cardinals scored four unanswered from four different players to hold a 6-3 advantage.
The rapid pace subsided as neither team scored for more than 10 minutes, before Williams capped a 3-1 scoring run to cut into the lead and make it 7-6 Cardinals.
Conor Selfridge '26 worked himself into the game, after allowing a goal on four of the first five Williams shot attempts on-target, the junior goalkeeper made saves on eight straight shots-on-goal for the Ephs between the first and second quarters.
Selfridge's play in net kept the score close and the Cardinal offense came to life once again, scoring four unanswered goals over the final 7:18 of the second quarter to make it 11-6 Wesleyan at halftime.
James Bailey '26 scored twice to start the run, the second of which came on a play where he stopped on a dime, shaking his defender loose before uncorking a shot that beat Matt Wetmore in cage.
CK Giancola '24, G'25 followed suit with a couple of strikes to cap the scoring in the first half.
Wesleyan put the game on ice early in the second half, with
Ben Burns '26 scoring back-to-back goals in the opening 1:21 then he added another with a man-up strike. The Cardinals' 7-0 run came to an end with a Williams goal but Wesleyan answered right back with
Gavin Lechner '27 and
Jack Raba '23, G'25 scoring to increase the margin to 16-7.
Giancola put an exclamation point on the win with a man-down goal just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter, giving Wesleyan a double-digit advantage. The Cardinals tacked on three more unanswered goals in a span of 3:05 of play, completing the scoring with 22 goals with 8:06 to play.
Selfridge's play was crucial in the outcome as the two sides were nearly even in shots (Wesleyan led 55-50) but the junior goalkeeper finished with a career-high 19 saves as the Cardinal goalies combined for 21 saves compared to nine for the Ephs' three goalkeepers who saw the field.
Giancola had everything working, finishing with a career-high nine points on six goals and three assists. The nine-point effort surpassed his NESCAC Tournament record eight-goal performance in the NESCAC Quarterfinal win over Trinity last season.
Burns tied his career-high with five goals while
James Bailey did the same with his four-goal total.
Will Miller '26 went for five points on two goals and a season-high three assists. Raba scored once and dished out three assists for four points and Lechner had a three-point game (two goals, one assist).
Tyler Campbell '25 led the faceoff unit going 12-for-24 at X with five ground balls and one assist.
Emmett Schillinger '25 led the Cardinal defense with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Next up for the Cardinals is a trip to Hoboken to face Stevens on Wednesday at 7 PM. The Ducks dominated last year's meeting in Middletown with a 16-10 win over the Cardinals.
