The Wesleyan men’s lacrosse team started the 2010 season off with high hopes after advancing to the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals last year. Despite losing three games of their first seven, they won the other four convincingly, including a record-breaking 26-4 win against SUNY-Farmingdale.
The Cardinals came out of the gate quickly, winning their opener 8-3 against Salve Regina University on the first day of spring break. Against the Seahawks, the Cardinals were led by a strong performance from Teddy Citrin ’12, who scored four of the team’s eight goals and also had an assist. The Cards completely outplayed the Seahawks, taking twice as many shots and winning twice as many faceoffs.
Four days later, the Cardinals hosted SUNY-Maritime at home, but showed little hospitality towards the visiting Privateers, winning 14-1 behind four goals by 2009 NESCAC Rookie of the Year John Froats ’12. Wesleyan performed even better against Maritime than they had against Salve Regina, outshooting the Privateers 55-15 and dominating in every statistical category.
After two impressive wins, however, the Cardinals stumbled a bit, losing their first NESCAC contest of the season to Bowdoin, and then falling again at Montclair State. They stayed close in each game, losing by scores of 11-7 and 10-8, respectively.
But the Cardinals bounced back in a huge way just two days after losing at Montclair State, pummeling SUNY-Farmingdale 26-4 at home. The 26 goals were the most goals Wesleyan men’s lacrosse had scored in a game in its 51-year history, while the 22-goal difference tied the largest margin of victory in program history. Wesleyan dominated the all-time series with Farmingdale, winning all four games by a collective score of 73-17. After scoring 10 goals in the first quarter, the Cardinals led by a convincing score of 17-3 at halftime. Jon Killeen ’10 scored five goals and dished out three assists, cementing his status as the team’s leading scorer. He currently leads the team in assists and is second in goals scored. Two other Cardinals, Froats and Max Rosenman ’13, scored hat tricks, and all 45 active Cardinals saw playing time in the rout.
Awaiting the Cardinals after their dominating win, however, was perennial NESCAC foe Middlebury, which defeated Wesleyan in the NCAA quarterfinals last spring. This year’s first contest, played in Vermont on March 20, saw the Panthers ranked fifth nationally and the Cardinals ranked 16th. Despite a strong start by the Cardinals, with the score tied 3-3 after the first period, Middlebury locked down on defense in the final three quarters. They held Wes scoreless as they scored nine unanswered goals, before Killeen and Conor Malangone ’11 each scored in the final six minutes for the final 12-5 margin.
Finally, on Wednesday night, the Cardinals returned to the win column with an impressive victory against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Although the Cardinals entered the final period of the game with an 8-4 lead after four early goals by Malangone, the Mariners fought back in the fourth, scoring three quick goals to bring the score to 8-7 with 26 seconds left. Fortunately for the Cardinals, faceoff specialist Matt Ward ’10 did his job, winning his 12th faceoff of the game and allowing Wes to run out the remainder of the clock to preserve the win.
Wesleyan has certainly performed well against three tough opponents, and has dominated the other four, in building their 4-3 record. The Cardinals will pick the sticks right back up this Saturday, as the team hosts Bates on Jackson Field as they look for their first NESCAC win this season.