MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The three-seed Wesleyan men's lacrosse team scored three unanswered goals to open their NESCAC Quarterfinal showdown against six-seed Bates and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire in a 15-6 triumph over the Bobcats on Sunday afternoon from Citrin Field. The Cardinals (11-4) advance to the NESCAC Semifinal round for the 16^th time in team history and will face two-seed Bowdoin on Saturday at top-seed Tufts.
 
It took 2:49 minutes into the game for the first goal as CK Giancola '24, G'25 got the proceedings started with his first score of the day. Jack Raba '23, G'25 beat his defender behind the cage and scored an unassisted goal of his own just under two minutes later. Raba then assisted on a Ben Burns '26 snipe as the Cardinals forced an early Bates timeout.
 
The Bobcats controlled most of the later stages of the first quarter, with Connor Hartman and Gray Doyle scoring to lower the deficit to 3-2, but it was Will Shull '25 who beat the buzzer with a goal with just one second left on the clock to hand Wesleyan a 4-2 lead after one.
 
Both goalkeepers shined in the second quarter, with Conor Selfridge '26 and Andrew Toland combining for seven saves between the pair. Only three goals were scored, two of which came off the stick of Giancola who scored on a Raba assist before later finding Charlie Hoban '25 in transition for a goal that made it 6-3 Wesleyan at the half.
 
Another low-scoring stanza followed as the Cardinals struggled with turnovers, committing eight in the third quarter alone, but the Wesleyan defense was stellar throughout in holding the Bobcats to just one goal in the frame. And despite the turnover issues, the Giancola-Raba combination linked up for two late goals as Raba assisted Giancola for back-to-back strikes that spotted the Cardinals an 8-4 lead heading into the fourth.
 
Those two Giancola goals to end the third quarter was the start of the game-clinching 8-0 run as Wesleyan pilled on six more goals in the fourth quarter before Bates answered back. Will Miller '26 assisted on goals from Shull and Burns just 36 seconds apart and then Matt Morrow '27 broke free on the far side after a pass through multiple defenders from Giancoal made it to Morrow's stick at the far post.
 
Burns completed his hat trick off of Miller's third assist of the quarter and Giancola capped the scoring run with an unassisted man-up goal to spot the Cardinals a 10-goal lead with just over four minutes left. Devin O'Sullivan '25 scored late on in this one to cap the scoring and send Wesleyan into the NESCAC Semifinals with a 15-6 win.
 
Faceoffs loomed large in the outcome as Tyler Campbell '25 (8-for-11) and Jack Doherty '28 (5-for-7) combined to go 13-for-18 largely against Miles Schmidt, who came into play as the NESCAC leader in faceoff percentage (.654 heading into Sunday), as Schmidt finished just 6-for-17.
 
Wesleyan's defense was also stellar in the win, as the six goals allowed is the fewest the Cardinals have allowed in a playoff game since 2018. Bates was held to just one goal in a span of over 30 minutes between the second and fourth quarters. Selfridge was stellar in cage all afternoon, making 12 saves with just four goals allowed in nearly 55 minutes of action. The .750 save percentage is a new playoff career-high for the junior goalkeeper. Emmett Schillinger '25 pilled up five ground balls and three caused turnovers while Joe Hurton '27 totaled four ground balls and one caused turnover. 
 
Giancola finished the day with five goals and two assists for seven points as the graduate midfielder has scored 4+ goals in five straight playoff games dating back to the 2024 NESCAC Tournament.
 
Raba totaled five points on one goal and four assists as he upped his NESCAC-leading total to 56 assists through 15 games. Miller dished out three assists while Burns had three goals. Hoban finished with two goals for his second career multi-goal game.
 
Wesleyan heads into the NESCAC Semifinal where a showdown against Bowdoin awaits. The two sides met just last weekend in a 14-10 win for the Polar Bears in Maine.