Monday afternoon the men’s lacrosse team put on an offensive and defensive clinic against Western Connecticut State University en route to an 18-1 victory. On the attacking side of the field, 11 different players found the back of net, with six scoring multiple goals. Sporting a young, talented group of offensive players, the Cards displayed quickness and firepower, jumping to a 10-0 lead at halftime. The 18 total goals were the most scored by the team in two years.

Chris Jasinski ’08 and Jon Killeen ’10 topped the scoring sheet for Wesleyan, recording two goals and an assist each. Mike Hines ’07 set up the team’s 13th goal by zipping a pass to Adam Kirk ’09. The assist pushed Hines past the century mark for points in his four-year career. This season Hines has 12 points, on eight goals and four assists, good for fourth on the team.

Defensively, the 17-goal margin of victory set a record for the team. The starting defensive unit of Spike Malangone ’09, Zach Librizzi ’08, and Nick Hayes ’09 blanketed the opposing offense, combining with long stick midfielder Tom Bendon ’07 for 12 groundballs. The Cards defense also limited Eastern Connecticut to only 18 shots on the day. All-American goalie Charlie Congleton ’07, who had an easy day thanks to the superb defensive effort, recorded six saves in 30 minutes.

“People don’t talk much about our defense,” said confident defensive middie Kwasi Ansu ’09 after the game. “The offense always gets the glory because we traditionally run a zone, which keeps any one player from standing out. This year though, our athleticism is allowing us to run some man-on-man defense, and younger players are stepping up to the challenge. Whether it’s man or zone, our D is dominant and a score like this [against Eastern Conn] says everything.”

By the third quarter, head coach John Raba called off the starters and cleared the bench. Forty-two players saw action against Eastern Connecticut and, even with subs in, the team continued to perform at a high level.

“It’s a confidence boost in two ways,” said Jeff Strittmatter ’09. “We become confident by such a huge win, but we also gain more confidence by seeing the depth of our team. Four goalies and almost every offensive player on our team got time and it’s clear everyone can play.”

Coming into the season ranked fourth in the country in Division III, the team soundly defeated its first six opponents, including Babson and Hamilton, by a combined score of 58-25.

Pundits questioned the Cards’ depth on offense in preseason articles and wondered if the team would be able to fill the shoes of departed three-time All-American Glenn Adams ’06. The team did its best to answer any questions in the first few games of the season.

Credit for the offensive boost goes to the young yet refined group of underclassmen that has worked hard to fill the scoring void created by the loss of Adams. Of the team’s top 10 scorers, nine are underclassmen. In addition to doing most of the scoring, the offense has found depth off the bench, which it has lacked in previous years. As a result, the immensely talented midfield and attack groups can sub freely and still maintain a high level of play. This should serve the Cards well down the line, as they should be able to absorb the shock of injuries that are commonplace in lacrosse.

“There are just so many good players on our team,” said Dan Latzman ’09. “It’s hard because not everyone can be on the field all the time, but having depth will be important during NESCAC games.”

The team raced out to a 5-0 record to start the season, including three wins during a spring break trip to West Palm Beach, Florida. The quick start helped the Cards move up a spot to number three in the national rankings.

A surprising 9-6 home loss to unranked Tufts College last Saturday in the team’s first NESCAC game, however, dropped the Cards to fifth in the rankings.

Last year, playing away at Tufts, the Cards faced a tougher-than-expected opponent with a stingy defense. In that game, Wesleyan had 45 shots over four periods and escaped with a 4-3 victory. On Saturday, the Jumbos’ defense was just as stingy, but the Tufts offense caught the Wesleyan defense off guard.

After exchanging goals to open the game, a goal and an assist from Alex Kaufman ’08 put the Cards in the lead during the second quarter, while the Wes defense held Tufts scoreless for the last 21 minutes of the first half.

The third quarter, however, was a different story. The Jumbos erupted with four unanswered goals and took the lead for good, 7-4. In the fourth quarter, goals by Russ Follansbee ’09 and Grayson Connors ’09 were not enough to bring the team back.

“The inability to finish teams off in the third quarter has hurt us throughout the early part of the season,” Strittmatter said. “Our two goal halftime lead against Tufts quickly changed into a two goal deficit entering the fourth quarter and we couldn’t overcome it.”

Another point of concern for Wes emerged at the face-off. Bobby Goulding ’08 won most of his draws, but confusion at the wings positions caused the Cards to lose more draws than they won, with Tufts winning 12 of 18 face-offs.

Despite opening its NESCAC season with a loss, the team is looking toward its next game, a match-up with NESCAC foe Bowdoin in Maine. Following Bowdoin, the Cards final seven games are all against conference opponents. This affords the Cards many chances to avenge the Tufts loss.

“Losing to Tufts was definitely disappointing, but it’s still so early in the season,” Latzman said. “And we have ‘Hollywood’ Jon Killeen [’10] on our team, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”