WATERVILLE, Me. – The No. 7 ranked Wesleyan women's lacrosse team opened with 13 unanswered goals, putting on a dominant display to defeat No. 12 Rowan 16-4 in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament on a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon from the Bill Alfond Field on the campus of Colby College.
Wesleyan (15-5) advances to the NCAA Quarterfinal (Elite 8) round for just the second time in team history and the first since 2019. Awaiting the Cardinals is a familiar foe in No. 4 Colby as the two NESCAC powerhouse programs will face off on Sunday at 2 PM with a Final Four trip on the line.
Facing Rowan for the first time in team history, Wesleyan completely dominated play all throughout the first half. Wesleyan forced Rowan into 14 first half turnovers while giving the Profs all sorts of trouble on clearance attempts, with the Profs going just 3-for-9 on clears in the first half. All that time with the ball translated to a 24-2 advantage in shot attempts for Wesleyan in the first half and ultimately the scoreboard as
Dylan Green '26 opened the scoring with a free position goal 3:01 into play.
Green then won the ensuing draw before dishing to
Mya Waryas '27 for another marker.
Kiara Tangney '25 carried in from almost midfield before beating Mel Rodgers to make it 3-0 Wesleyan just over the midway point of the first quarter. Three more goals came in late as
Becca Dibble '26 scored on a free position before
Sam DeLeo '25 fired a pass in for Tangney right in the teeth of the Profs defense. Before the quarter ended,
Bridget Horst '26 picked up a ground ball deep in the Cardinals' defensive half of the field and carried the full lengthy of the field before looking right for DeLeo who shifted to her backhand to beat Rodgers.
Owning a 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter, Wesleyan scored on their first possession with
Elle Priesing '26 finishing from in close after a great find from DeLeo. Waryas worked her way to a spinning goal on the near side post, then
Addie Cummings '26 carried in and beat Rodgers with a long range shot. Tangney completed her first half hat trick with a player-up goal while Priesing and Dibble each scored their second goal to make it 12-0 at the half.
Alix Riley '25 got involved in the scoring to start the second half and the two teams would trade goals for the remainder of play, all under running time as Wesleyan closed out a convincing 16-4 win.
The Cardinals outshot the Profs 24-2 in the first half and 35-13 for the game. The 35 shots tied a season-high while the 13 shots allowed is the second fewest for a Wesleyan opponent this season.
Wesleyan continued to lean on a host of players on attack, with six Cardinals scoring 2+ goals in this one. Tangney had the lone hat trick while Green led the team with four points on two goals and two assists. Priesing (two goals, one assist) and DeLeo (one goal, two assists) both had three points while DeLeo became the 24
th Cardinal in team history to reach the 100 career point milestone.
Maeve Olson '25 and
Lilly Stoller '26 each had two caused turnovers and two ground balls while
Izzy Weintraub '26 made four saves while playing the full 60 minutes in cage.
The Cardinals face off against Colby for the second straight year in the NCAA Tournament as the Mules defeated Wesleyan 7-5 in Middletown in the Third Round last year. Wesleyan is 6-27 all-time against Colby, having lost six straight against the Mules dating back to 2021.
