MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – After the three-seed Wesleyan men's lacrosse team had scored three unanswered to tie the score late in the fourth quarter, Hamilton won the ensuing faceoff and Thomas Healy scored with just 15 seconds left on the clock as the Continentals defeated the Cardinals 10-9 in the NESCAC Quarterfinals on Saturday from Citrin Field.
 
The two sides traded blows all throughout the first quarter as nine of the 19 total scored scored came in the opening 15 minutes of play. Hamilton needed just seven shots to score five times in the opening frame while Wesleyan saw four different Cardinals score as the Continentals held a 5-4 lead heading into the second.
 
Hamilton rattled off four answered goals between the end of the first quarter and early in the second to take a 7-4 lead. Wesleyan tightened up defensively, with Conor Selfridge '26 making three saves, allowing the Cardinals to get back into the game with goals from Will Miller '26 and Gavin Lechner '27 to cut the deficit to 7-6 at halftime.
 
The game continued to swing as Hamilton's Maddux Little netted the only two goals scored in the third quarter while the Continentals' goalkeeper Jack Williams made three saves in the frame to restore a three-goal advantage for the visitors heading into the fourth.
 
Wesleyan broke a scoreless streak of more than 23 minutes with Miller bouncing one past Williams in goal. It was Miller again making things happen, taking the ball from behind the cage and taking a shot from distance that found the upper right corner, making it a one-goal game with 4:45 left.
 
As the clock wound under two minutes to play, Wesleyan called timeout with the ball on offense and had Matt Morrow '27 feed Miller on the left wing. Miller dodged past one defender before scoring inside the left post to tie the score at nine apiece with 1:42 remaining.
 
A crucial faceoff after Miller's third consecutive goal went the way of the Continentals. After calling timeout, Hamilton held the ball on offense before Healy took the ball, worked his way from the right wing on a screen from Little before unleashing a shot that went low and inside the left post with just 15 seconds left.
 
A last-ditch effort saw Wesleyan win the last faceoff and the ball found its way to Kyle Short '28 who got a shot off before time expired, but the ball whizzed over the crossbar and Hamilton celebrated the playoff win.
 
Miller tied his season-high with four goals to go along with one assist for a five-point game. Lechner scored twice while Morrow and Burns each had one goal and one assist. Lucca Casagrande '26 tied his career-high with four caused turnovers while Joe Hurton '27 had three caused turnovers and three ground balls and Charlie Hill '28 had three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Jackson Tinari '26 went 7-for-14 on faceoffs four ground balls.
 
Entering the day ranked #3 in the NCAA's National Power Index, Wesleyan (11-4) is all but assured of an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals await their NCAA Tournament fate with the Selection Show slated for next Sunday night on NCAA.com.