MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – On the day following the upset win over Middlebury, the fifth-seeded Wesleyan women's lacrosse team couldn't keep the magic run going as the Cardinals were defeated by the second-seeded Tufts in the NESCAC Championship game by a score of 13-7. The Cardinals (13-5) await news of an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament with the selection show scheduled for Monday morning.
Facing a quality Tufts team that had just beaten the three-seed Colby 18-9 in the NESCAC Semifinals on Saturday, the Cardinals hung in against a team that beat Wesleyan 15-4 in the regular season. Wesleyan trailed by four at the half and lowered the deficit to three early in the third quarter, but couldn't get closer as the Jumbos held the Cardinals to just one goal over the final 25+ minutes of play.
A high-scoring first quarter saw the teams combine for nine goals, with Tufts scoring four unanswered in the opening 4:24 of play. Wesleyan responded with three of the next four goals with
Elle Priesing '26 and
Dylan Green '26 scoring on free position shots while
Addie Cummings '26 finished a feed from
Mya Waryas '27. Allie Zorn then scored in the final minute of the first to extend the Jumbos' lead to 6-3 after one.
Wesleyan lowered the deficit to just one goal with a strong opening stretch in the second quarter. Green scored for the second time on the day while
Izzy Weintraub '26 made one of her three saves in the quarter before
Sam DeLeo '25 uncorked an unassisted goal to make it 6-5 Tufts.
The Jumbos called timeout and responded with three unanswered goals in a span of 3:10 minutes, increasing their lead back to 9-5 at the half.
Weintraub continued to keep her team in the game, making saves on Zorn and Grace Hammond to start the third quarter, while
Bridget Horst '26 scored a player-down goal to make it 9-6 Tufts with 10:04 left in the period. The ensuing 10+ minutes saw Wesleyan have chances as Tufts committed turnovers on three of their next four possessions, but the Cardinals could not cash in as a yellow card was followed by three straight turnovers before Margie Carden scored with 15 seconds left to make it 10-6 Jumbos heading into the fourth.
Tufts then put the game away early in the fourth as Carden and Emma Joyce scored in the opening five minutes and Kate Mastrobuono added another to put the game out of reach.
Wesleyan went 21-for-21 on clears but the Tufts defense did well in the final third, holding Wesleyan to just eight shots in the second half. Priesing and Green scored twice while Cummings had one goal and one assist to give Wesleyan three players with two points each.
Lindsey Diomede '26 totaled a game-high four ground balls while Kyra Bronwe '26 had four draw controls and Horst recorded three caused turnovers.
Based on their ranking in the National Power Index, Wesleyan is guaranteed an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament where the team will be making it's seventh consecutive appearance in a traditional season.
