MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Sporting a 7-2 halftime lead, the No. 6 Wesleyan men's lacrosse team looked on their way to a dominating home win before Conn. College rallied back to take an 8-7 lead late into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals, however, came up big late with Kyle Short '28 scoring with 2:39 left in regulation to send the game into overtime where Ben Burns '26 netted the game-winner in a 9-8 Wesleyan win over the Camels.
 
Facing a Conn. team that was fighting for its postseason life, the Cardinals (11-3, 7-3 NESCAC) nearly paid the price as the Camels were the much better team throughout the second half. Wesleyan outshot the Camels 16-4 in the second quarter but only managed three goals as the 7-2 halftime lead could have been a much larger deficit if not for the play of Conn. goalkeeper Patrick Hogan who recorded seven of his 14 saves in the second quarter alone.
 
Conn. outshot Wesleyan 8-4 in the third quarter, scoring four times while holding the Cardinals goalless as it was just a one-goal game heading into the fourth quarter. Andrew Rainville scored his fourth of the game just under four minutes into the period to tie the score then Conn. took their first lead when Isaiah Kozub found the back of the net with 7:49 remaining.
 
The Camels had a man-up opportunity down the stretch but couldn't capitalize then Harrison Zmijewski had a shot attempt saved by Conor Selfridge with four minutes left. On the ensuing Wesleyan possession, after having gone nearly 30 minutes without a goal, Short beat Hogan from distance to tie the score with under three minutes to go in regulation.
 
Both teams turned the ball over in the closing minutes and then Wesleyan had the ball and whittled the clock down to under 10 seconds before Burns had a game-winning shot attempt sail wide of the cage and an overtime period was needed to determine a winner.
 
In the extra session, Jack Doherty '28 came up with a critical faceoff win to start the period. Matt Morrow '27 had a shot turned aside by Hogan and the loose ball in front was corralled by Burns but he was forced into a turnover by Hayden Carpenter. The Camels were then whistled for offsides after crossing midfield, and after Wesleyan passed the ball around on attack, Morrow drew two defenders and passed back to Burns who was left wide open. The senior attack stepped into a shot that went top right corner of the cage for the game-winner.
 
An entertaining back-and-forth contest played in brutally cold conditions saw the Cardinals come out on top for a win that clinched the #3 seed for Wesleyan in the NESCAC Tournament. The Cardinals will face #6 Hamilton on Saturday at 3 PM on Jackson Field.
 
Wesleyan held a 37-29 edge in shots despite being outshot 17-11 in the second half. The Cardinals won the turnover battle 21-15 and were 19-for-21 on clears compared to 14-for-22 for the Camels.
 
Burns had three goals for his fifth hat trick in the past six games to go along with three ground balls. Five Cardinals had two points including Short who scored twice. Joe Hurton '27 finished with four ground balls and two caused turnovers while Doherty went 7-for-10 on faceoffs.
 
The Cardinals and Continentals met back on March 28 in Clinton in a game that Wesleyan came out on top 10-9.