MEDFORD, Mass. – After playing to a deadlocked score at the half, the No. 12 ranked Wesleyan men's lacrosse team outscored No. 5 Christopher Newport 10-2 in the second half to land a convincing 15-7 win over the Captains on Saturday night in the NCAA Quarterfinal round from Bello Field on the campus of Tufts University. With the win, the Cardinals (14-4) advance to the NCAA Semifinals for the fifth time in team history and first since 2018.
Early on, the Captains stormed out to a fast 2-0 lead in the first six minutes of action while CNU would later lead 3-1 in the first before the Cardinals scored twice to end the opening quarter with a tied score at 3 apiece.
Ben Burns '26 scored the first two goals for Wesleyan, going low to high into the upper left corner of the cage on both tallies, then
Charlie Hill '28 caught the Captains for a pole goal in transition after a successful clear that tied the score.
The two sides traded goals back-and-forth in the second quarter, with neither team scoring consecutive goals as it was tied at 5-5 at the half. Wesleyan outshot CNU 10-6 in the frame but only three Cardinal shots landed on-target, with two finding the back of the net on goals from
Matt Morrow '27 and
Will Miller '26.
Conor Selfridge '26 made three saves in the second quarter alone to keep the score close.
The Cardinals flipped a switch after halftime, outscoring CNU 7-2 in the third quarter to take a five-goal lead into the fourth. A blistering 15 minutes from the Cardinals featured three goals from
Gavin Lechner '27 and a pair from Burns while Wesleyan didn't commit a turnover in the entire period. Morrow got his hands free for the opening goal of the second half just 46 seconds into play to give Wesleyan their first lead of the game.
Selfridge made a big stop on Jamie Smith's behind the back attempt right in front, then
Charlie Wilmot '26 fed Lechner right in front on the fast break to make it 7-5 Wesleyan. Morrow then drove the cage before giving to Burns on his right who went top shelf into the upper right corner just 45 seconds after the Lechner marker.
Smith scored on the man-up to stymie the scoring run from Wesleyan, but the Cardinals responded with three more unanswered goals to take a 11-6 lead. Burns unleashed his fourth goal of the night then
Drew Zyskowski '27 found Lechner open right in front before Lechner took a quick shot from the middle of the CNU defense to spot Wesleyan a five-goal advantage.
Leading 12-7 at the start of the fourth, Burns netted his fifth of the night on the first possession for the Cardinals in the quarter. Then Wesleyan forced CNU into a shot clock violation on the ensuing possession before adding some insurance late on goals from Morrow and
Tommy Kilroy '29 that pushed the score to 15-7 before the final horn sounded.
Wesleyan outshot CNU 39-31 in the game while Selfridge (11 saves) outplayed the Captains' First Team All-American goalkeeper Mason Bellinger who allowed all 15 goals and made just five saves while he was pulled at one point in the second half.
Burns scored five goals to lead the attack while Morrow had three goals and two assists for a five-point game and Lechner scored all three of his goals in the third quarter. Hill totaled three caused turnovers while Selfridge had five ground balls.
The Cardinals will face top-ranked Tufts (20-1) in the NCAA Semifinals on Sunday night at 7:30 PM in what will be the third all-time meeting between the two sides in the NCAA Tournament.
