CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Trailing 4-2 at the half and searching for answers on offense, the No. 6 Wesleyan women's lacrosse team exploded with an 11-goal third quarter to blow past the Engineers and earn a resounding 15-5 win on Sunday afternoon from Jack Barry Field. Wesleyan (7-4) snaps a three-game losing streak while MIT (6-6) sees their three-game win streak come to an end.
 
After scoring on their first possession of the game, not a lot went right for the Cardinals in the first half as Wesleyan scored just twice on 14 shot attempts, seeing seven turned aside by MIT goalkeeper Pauline Vien. MIT meanwhile managed to score three times in the second quarter to spot themselves a 4-2 lead at half.
 
The third quarter is when the game took a sudden turn as the Cardinals went on a scoring spree that blew the game wide open. In the 11-goal third quarter, Wesleyan scored on 11 of 13 possessions including five straight to start the second half. Nine different Cardinals scored at least once while 10 recorded at least one point in the period.
 
Elle Priesing '26 got the scoring started with a free position strike 1:10 into the quarter. Priesing then found Kiara Tangney '25 just 40 seconds later then Sam DeLeo '25 grabbed a ground ball right in front of goal and scored to give Wesleyan the 5-4 lead.
 
Bridget Horst '26 got involved in the scoring to make it 6-4 Cardinals, then Wesleyan forced an MIT turnover and scored for the fifth straight offensive possession with Mya Waryas '27 finding the back of the net.
 
Tangney darted through traffic to score her second of the quarter and after MIT turned the ball over for their fourth straight possession in the period, Becca Dibble '26 scored on a free position. Now leading 9-4, Wesleyan did not slow down, scoring four more times in the final five minutes of the quarter to take a 13-4 lead into the fourth.
 
Tangney completed her third quarter hat trick with a free position goal, followed by Addie Cummings '26 scoring an unassisted tally with 3:09 left. Alix Riley '25 found the back of the net and with under 30 seconds left, Maddie Shoemaker '27 scored off a feed from Waryas to complete the 11-goal third quarter.
 
With the game well in-hand, the fourth quarter saw both benches clear as a host of players entered for an extended look. Wesleyan scored twice in the frame with Cummings scoring her second of the game while Sabrina Katz '28 scored a player-up goal with 3:14 remaining to close out the scoring and give Wesleyan the 15-5 win.
 
Wesleyan outshot MIT 21-4 in the second half and 35-18 for the game. The Cardinals also won the draw control battle 14-10 and scored on 4-of-5 free position shots.
 
Priesing led the Cardinals with three goals and one assist for four points as the junior recorded her third career hat trick while tying her single-game career-high in points. Tangney had three goals with three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Dylan Green '26 finished with three assists while Cummings had two goals and Shoemaker and Waryas each had one goal and one assist.
 
Kyra Browne '26 had six draw controls to lead the team while DeLeo had a team-high four ground balls with two caused turnovers.
 
Izzy Weintraub '26 made four saves with four goals allowed in 45 minutes of work. She exited for April Rowe '27 at the start of the fourth quarter with Rowe making one save in 15 minutes.
 
The Cardinals head back on the road for two games in the coming week with trips to Trinity on Wednesday (6 PM) and Hamilton on Saturday (12 PM).