Wesleyan men’s lacrosse took a break from its grueling NESCAC schedule on Tuesday, facing off against in-state foe Eastern Connecticut State.  On a rainy, windy afternoon in Willimantic, Conn., the host Warriors put up a good fight against the Cardinals, but they were no match for Wesleyan. However, earlier this week before triumphing over Eastern Connecticut, Wes dropped out of the national rankings.

Behind two first-half goals by John Froats ’11, the Cardinals took a 7-4 halftime lead over the Warriors.  Wes finished the second quarter with two quick scores, and they carried that momentum over into the second half with three more goals in the first six minutes of the third quarter.

Eastern valiantly fought back, scoring a pair of goals to reduce their deficit to 10-6, but the Cardinals were unfazed.  Three more goals in a seven-minute span increased the lead to 13-6 and extinguished any hope the Warriors had of an upset.  Eastern netted two more goals in the final four minutes of the game to bring the final score to 13-8, but they never seriously threatened the Cardinal lead.

Leading scorer Teddy Citrin ’12 and DJ Bernatavitz ’12 had two goals and three assists each in the game.  Max Landow ’12 (two assists), Froats (one assist), and Graham Gnall ‘11 each had two goals as well.  The Eastern goalie faced an onslaught of Cardinal shots, as 26 of the 34 Wesleyan shots were on target.  Wes goalie Grant Covington ’12, meanwhile, only had to deal with 11 shots on goal, making five saves.

The Cardinals have now won two straight games after losing three in a row, and this is the time to be peaking.  After facing Little Three foe Williams at home this Saturday during WesFest, the Cards have only two more games before the NESCAC tournament begins.  At this point in the season, every game is crucial, and we will wait to see how the Cardinals respond to the late-season pressure.