The men’s lacrosse team headlined a strong 2006 spring season for Wesleyan athletics, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and advancing to the Final Four.

The Cards ended with an impressive 16-4 record but almost missed out on the NCAA tournament after a last-second loss to rival Middlebury in the NESCAC championship game. Wesleyan, looking for the first NESCAC title in team history, led 9-8 late in the fourth quarter but surrendered the game-winning goal as time expired.

The resilient Cards bounced back in the NCAA tournament, however, as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter against Rochester Institute of Technology en route to an 11-8 win. Wesleyan started slowly in its second round game but scored 13 second half goals in a 16-10 drubbing of Geneseo State.

The Cardinals’ magic ran out in the semifinals, though, as the squad fell in overtime to eventual national champion Cortland State by a score of 7-6. Charlie Congleton ’07 made 13 saves in a losing effort to cap off a campaign in which he led the country in save percentage and was an honorable mention as a USISL Division III All-American and named First-Team All-NESCAC.

Congleton was also named the InsideLacrosse.com Division III National Player of the Week last April after making 19 saves in Wesleyan’s regular season defeat of Middlebury. It was the first time the Cards topped the Panthers since the 1970s.

Last year’s tournament run was sparked by seniors and young talent, leaving the team with plenty to look forward to later this year. Mike Hines ’07 returns to pilot the midfield while Grayson Connors ’08, who led the team in goals last year with 42, will look to help the squad improve upon a season in which they went 9-3 against conference foes.

Hines and Connors were both named Second-Team All-New England for Division III, and Peter Harris ’07 earned Second-Team All NESCAC honors.

At the end of last season, Russell Follansbee ’09 and Jason Ben-Eliyahu ’09, who tallied 37 and 29 points respectively last season, looked ready to inherit primary roles in the 2007 Wesleyan attack. The Cards will look to them to take on increased roles in the offense as they lost second team USISL Division III All-American Glenn Adams ’06 and Mike Vitulano ’06 (35 points in last year) to graduation.

With young stars ready to take over the Wesleyan offense, the Cards are poised to finally topple Middlebury as NESCAC champions in the spring, and they look forward to taking care of some unfinished business in the NCAA tournament.