MEDFORD, Mass. – Leading 7-3 early in the fourth quarter, the three-seed Wesleyan men's lacrosse team saw two-seed Bowdoin hit back with a 5-0 run, only to see the Cardinals pull off a thrilling comeback in the closing minutes to defeat the Polar Bears 9-8 in the NESCAC Semifinal from Bello Field on the campus of Tufts University. The defending conference champion Wesleyan (12-4) will face the top-seed Jumbos (17-0) in the NESCAC Championship game on Sunday at Noon.
 
The captivating closing minutes saw Wesleyan pull off a hidden goal trick with less than three minutes remaining to tie the score. Jack Raba '23, G'25 slyly dumped the ball off in CK Giancola's '24, G'25 stick behind cage and with both defenders following Raba, Giancola had a clean run to goal and he made no mistake in beating Robert Hobbs to level the score at 8-8.
 
Jack Doherty '28 won the ensuing faceoff with the score now tied and after a lengthy possession, James Bailey '26 shook loose of his on-ball short stick defender and unleashed a rocket shot that landed in the upper left corner of the cage to restore Wesleyan's lead with 1:33 remaining.
 
Still with some work to do, Doherty won another faceoff but a turnover gave the ball back to Bowdoin with under one minute left. Following a timeout, Bowdoin had a chance from Jason Lach in close that was turned aside by Conor Selfridge '26 in goal. The loose ball was corralled by Matt Rettinger '25 but with pressure on him immediately, Rettinger stepped out of bounds to give Bowdoin one last chance to tie the score.
 
As the clock ticked under 20 seconds remaining, Sam Raye-Steiner made an aggressive move towards goal that saw him beat his defender, but it was Selfridge who made an incredible sprawling save with his left leg on the diving low shot attempt from Raye Steiner. Selfridge controlled the rebound, picking up the loose ball and passing to Reef Kabalin '25 who lobbed the ball the length of the field as the horn sounded on a pulse-pounding 9-8 win for the Cardinals.
 
Selfridge and the Cardinal defense was incredible throughout, holding Bowdoin to just three goals in the opening three quarters with Selfridge making 13 saves on the first 16 shots on goal from the Polar Bears in the contest.
 
The Cardinal offense found some footing with a 5-0 first half run as Raba was heavily involved throughout, scoring or assisting on six of the nine goals scored on the day for Wesleyan. Raba was on the receiving end of a seeing-eye pass from Will Miller '26 as Miller's pass made it through several defenders right to Raba in front.
 
Raba then found Ben Burns '26 who quick fired a shot past Hobbs to give Wesleyan a 2-1 lead heading into the second quarter. It was Raba who scored from in close once again, this time receiving a feed from Bailey through plenty of traffic in front. Giancola got his hands free for his first goal of the day 1:27 minutes later and Burns made the most of a broken play as he shoveled home a goal right from in close to make it 5-1 Wesleyan.
 
The Polar Bears scored the final two goals of the first half to make it 5-3 Cardinals at halftime. Then a scoreless third quarter followed with Selfridge shining for Wesleyan, making six saves in the frame to keep his team in front.
 
Raba completed his hat trick less than a minute into the fourth quarter as he carried around cage, drew a double team and took a shot that beat an unsuspecting Hobbs in net. Matt Morrow '27 then outmuscled his defender for a loose ball on the far side of the field before carrying in towards the teeth of the Bowdoin defense. Morrow looked off his defender before finding Nolan Samson '27 open in front of cage who quickly took a shot for the goal as the Cardinals held their largest lead of the game with 12:36 remaining.
 
After more than 22 minutes without a goal, Bowdoin's attack suddenly came to life with five unanswered tallies in a span of just 5:19 minutes as a four-goal deficit turned into a one-goal lead with just over five minutes left in regulation. Two goals each from Chris Berry and Pat Fitzgerald flipped the script for the time being, that was until the epic ending that saw Wesleyan produce the hidden ball goal, then Bailey's laser shot, followed by Selfridge's heroics in the closing seconds as the Cardinals pulled out the late win.
 
Wesleyan overcame a 13-7 edge in faceoffs to Bowdoin, getting a 16-save effort from Selfridge which loomed large in the outcome. The Cardinal defense also held a dynamic Bowdoin attack to an 0-for-6 showing on extra man opportunities.
 
Raba's six-point game led the Cardinals as the graduate attack totaled three goals and three assists. Giancola and Burns scored twice while Bailey had an assist plus the game-winning goal with 1:33 remaining.
 
The Cardinals are back in the NESCAC Championship game for the 10^th time in team history. Wesleyan won the title in 2009, 2017, and 2024 and are set to face the Jumbos for the fourth time in a NESCAC Championship game with Tufts having beaten the Cardinals for the league title in 2018 and 2013 while the Cardinals topped the Jumbos in 2009.
 
The regular season meeting between the two sides was an epic duel that saw Tufts prevail in a 20-19 overtime win on Citrin Field.