HARTFORD, Conn. – Locked in a back-and-forth battle throughout, in a game where neither side led by more than two goals, the No. 7 Wesleyan women's lacrosse team did enough in the end to hold off No. 15 Trinity for a 12-11 win on Wednesday night. Wesleyan (8-4, 3-4 NESCAC) snaps a three-game conference losing streak while the Bantams (7-4, 4-3 NESCAC) see their four-game win streak come to an end.
 
An explosive start to this one saw each team net four goals in the first quarter, with four different Cardinals getting involved in the scoring. Wesleyan scored on their first two offensive possessions, with Kiara Tangney '25 scoring 2:25 into play before Dylan Green '26 scored on a free position 1:05 later. Mya Waryas '27 scored on a free position just past the midway point in the frame and Lindsey Diomede '26 leveled the score at 4-4 with a player-up goal late in the first.
 
Green scored her second free position goal of the night to start the second quarter, but the Bantams went on a 3-0 run in quick succession to take a 7-5 lead halfway through the period. The Cardinals managed that flurry well, limiting the Bantams to just one shot over the remaining 8+ minutes of the first half, while Addie Cummings '26 and Tangney scored to make it 7-7 at the half.
 
Wesleyan made their move in the third quarter, holding the Bantams to just two goals while the Cardinals scored four including two in the final 1:13 of the quarter to take a two-goal lead into the fourth. Elle Priesing '26 scored her first of the night on the first possession of the second half before she scored a go-ahead goal with 1:13 remaining in the frame. Sam DeLeo '25 then made it 11-9 Cardinals on a free position shot to spot her team a two-goal lead.
 
Trinity immediately cut the deficit to one with a Lily Iler goal just 50 seconds into the fourth but the Bantams followed with turnovers on their next four possessions, allowing Wesleyan to restore their two-goal lead with Tangney's third goal of the night coming with 6:17 remaining.
 
The Cardinals staved off a yellow card with Izzy Weintraub '26 making a crucial save on Kelsey Restivo with 4:51 left. The Bantams later got to within one on a Kaeley Zito goal with three minutes left, but back-to-back turnovers in the final minutes proved costly. One last ditch attempt to send the game into overtime saw Sarah Marvin shot wide of net with three seconds left, sealing a 12-11 win for the Cardinals.
 
Tangney finished the game with a career-high five points on three goals and two assists to go along with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. For Tangney, this is her first career two-assist game as well as third straight game with a hat trick.
 
Priesing finished with two goals and one assist while DeLeo tallied one goal and two assists as each totaled three points.
 
Playing a huge role in the outcome was Sarah Polumbo '27 as the sophomore midfielder shined in her first career chance at playing extended minutes. Polumbo, who came into tonight's game with three career draw controls, finished with seven draw controls as well as three ground balls. The seven draw controls are tied for the highest single-game total by any Cardinal in a game this season.
 
Weintraub made eight saves in goal, including four in the first quarter alone, to pick up the win.
 
Next up for the Cardinals is a trip to Hamilton on Saturday for a Noon start in what is the final regular season road game for Wesleyan.