MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Locked in a tight back-and-forth dual for nearly 40 minutes, the No. 5 Wesleyan men's lacrosse team scored eight unanswered to pull away and defeat Babson 16-7 on Saturday afternoon in the Second Round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament from Citrin Field. Wesleyan (13-5) advances to Third Round where they will face No. 9 Rensselaer on Sunday at 3 PM on Citrin for a spot in the NCAA Quarterfinal.
 
Wesleyan leaned on their defense in this one, holding a Babson team that had just beaten WestConn 24-4 in the NCAA First Round to only seven goals, with two goals coming in the final three minutes with the outcome largely decided. Conor Selfridge '26 made nine of his 10 saves in the second and third quarters combined, keeping the Cardinals out in front before the offense came through in the big way in the 8-0 run.
 
After an initial 3-0 run early in the first quarter spotted Wesleyan the lead, Babson did well to stymie a dynamic Cardinal offense that scored just three times in the final 23+ minutes of the first half. Both teams limited the other in transition and it translated on the scoreboard as just three total goals were scored in the second quarter as the Cardinals led 6-3 at halftime.
 
The Cardinals turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the third quarter, allowing Babson to stay in it as Seamus Rooney netted a man-down goal for the Beavers to make it 7-5 Wesleyan with 7:58 left in the third.
 
The switch flipped on the ensuing faceoff won by Jack Doherty '28, as the Cardinals worked the ball to Will Miller '26 who scored early in the shot clock. Wesleyan went on to score on both of their next possessions, with Jack Raba '23, G'25 scoring an unassisted goal before a transition goal from Charlie Hoban '25 made it 10-5 Wesleyan.
 
Miller then found Matt Morrow '27 for a tally before scoring again to make it 12-5 Cardinals heading into the fourth. Armed with a seven-goal advantage, the Cardinals put the game to bed early with Miller scoring another while James Bailey '26 tacked on a goal a few minutes later and CK Giancola '24, G'25 capped the run of eight unanswered goals with a man-up marker.
 
Wesleyan held a 48-40 advantage in shots while the teams were level in both faceoff wins (13-13) and turnovers (13-13) for the game.
 
Miller finished with five goals and one assist for a career-high six points as this marked Miller's first career five-goal game. Ten Cardinals scored at least once in a balanced scoresheet that has six Wesleyan players with multi-point games.
 
Reef Kabalin '25 totaled three caused turnovers and two ground balls while Joe Hurton '27 had five ground balls and one caused turnover. Tyler Campbell '25 went 6-for-10 on faceoffs while Doherty finished 5-for-10 with four ground balls.
 
Wesleyan heads into a matchup with RPI on Sunday that marks the fourth all-time meeting between the two sides. Wesleyan is 2-1 against the Engineers including a 19-14 win back in the 2022 NCAA Tournament Second Round.