SCRANTON, Pa. – Playing for the second time in three days, the No. 12 Wesleyan men's lacrosse team battled their way to a 13-10 win over Scranton on Tuesday evening in the first all-time meeting between the two sides. The Cardinals (3-1) are winners of three straight while Scranton (1-5) have lost four straight.
 
Wesleyan set the tone from the start, scoring three unanswered in the first quarter with goals coming from three different Cardinals. Will Miller '26 scored the opener while Ben Burns '26 found the back of the net nearly seven minutes later, followed by a Gavin Lechner '27 goal on the next Wesleyan possession.
 
A flurry of goals late in the first quarter saw Scranton go on a 3-1 run, including a Myles McCutcheon goal with just five seconds showing, to make it 4-3 Wesleyan after the first quarter of play.
 
A low-scoring second quarter saw just three goals scored between the two sides, as Burns netted his second of the game to make it 5-3 Cardinals, but the Royals evened up the score at the half with two Quinn Carson goals.
 
Needing a response, Wesleyan fired 18 shots in the third quarter alone, scoring five times to take a two-goal lead into the final quarter. Nolan Samson '27 scored on the opening possession and then the Cardinals went on a 3-0 run with Burns completing his hat trick before Matt Morrow '27 added another and Thomas Girimonti '28 scored to make it 9-6 Cardinals.
 
Holding a 10-8 lead entering the fourth, Burns' fourth made it 11-8 then Morrow took a feed from Samson to score his second and Girimonti made it 13-9 Wesleyan with just 4:11 showing. Wesleyan held Scranton to just seven shots in the fourth quarter, as the Cardinals staved off a Scranton man-up opportunity with two minutes left to close out the 13-10 win.
 
Wesleyan outshot Scranton 46-30 for the game while also holding commanding leads in ground balls (43-30) and face off wins (19-8).
 
Burns scored four goals to lead the Cardinals while Morrow (two goals, two assists) had his first career four-point game. Samson recorded his first career three-point game with one goal and two assists. Girimonti finished with two goals and one assist. Eight Caridnals scored at least once in the win.
 
Joe Hurton '27 led the Cardinal defense with two caused turnovers and two ground balls while he scored a goal for the second straight game. Peter Rossi '28 had three ground balls and one caused turnover while Charlie Hill '28 finished with two caused turnovers and one ground ball.
 
The face off team of Jackson Tinari '26 (8-for-10), Jack Doherty '28 (6-for-7), and Jack Stanislaw '27 (5-for-10) helped give the Cardinals a commanding 19-8 edge in face offs for the game.
 
Wesleyan heads back on the road this weekend for a Saturday tilt against Colby at Noon from Waterville.