MIDDLETOWN, CT. – Closing the door on the 2025 season, the No. 6 Wesleyan men's lacrosse team was unable to catch a fleet-footed RPI squad, ranked ninth in the nation, after a four-goal hole in the opening minutes set the tone for the 13-7 NCAA Tournament Round of 16 loss on Sunday afternoon, from Wesleyan's home Citrin Field.

Following a win over Williams on Saturday, the Engineers r(17-3 overall) returned to Wesleyan riding the momentum of the potential of two NESCAC upsets. Sean Mullen was the tinder to the Engineers' tear, scoring the opening goal to set off the deficit. The Engineers dominated at center field on the draw, keeping the Cardinals at bay. It took four goals by the Engineers before CK Giancola '24, who led the Cardinals' attack, could finally register the Cardinals on the scoreboard.

The Cardinals would play catch-up for the remainder of the game, within arm's reach of the Engineers until the fourth quarter. Giancola struck again as the first quarter wound down, rifling a shot from out center as the Cardinals retained possession on the initial out of bounds.

Ben Burns '26 opened the second with a third goal for the Cardinals, cutting the Engineers' lead to two after the Cardinals staved off a turnover. Jack Raba '24 found Burns out above for the heavy shot down the middle. Raba answered another Engineers goal with his own, unassisted. Returning the ball from the end line, Raba ran the left side and fired with a high, right-handed shot.

As the Engineers climbed to a four-point lead in the third, Giancola got the better of two previous wide shots, charming a third to the top right corner of the net on a left-handed swing to complete his final career hattrick. The Cardinals jumped within three, answering a ninth goal by the Engineers with tallies from Jack Doherty '28 and Burns. Doherty won the draw and took off down the far line and placed a goal over the left shoulder of Perry. Burns followed just two minutes later as the quarter was ending, firing from the right side.

Just as they opened the game, the Engineers closed regulation with four goals. Taking advantage of the exertion spent by the Cardinals' attempts to make a comeback, the Engineers' prowess on the draw ultimately allowed them to hold possession for the final 15 minutes of action.

Angelo Venuto went 19-25 on the draw for the Engineers, picking up a team leading 11 groundballs with Sean Smith notching five of the 13 goals.

Raba finished with four assists in addition to his goal, picking up two balls with one caused turnover. Emmett Schillinger '25 and Conor Selfridge '26 led with three groundballs and three caused turnovers.

In net, Selfridge took the loss with 12 saves for the Cardinals. In the opposite net, Perry finished with seven saves.

The Cardinals finish the season with a 13-6 campaign, running 7-1 in the NESCAC. The Cardinals reached the NESCAC title match for the ninth time and earned a 10^th bid to the NCAA Tournament.