Saturday afternoon ended much better for Wesleyan men’s lacrosse than it had started.  The Cardinals were hosting Little Three and NESCAC rival Williams, who came into the game at just 1-8 on the season.  Wes, meanwhile, was 8-3, with all three losses coming in NESCAC play, and the Cards hoped to take advantage of the Ephs’ struggles.

But the visiting team started the game off with a bang, scoring just 11 seconds into the first quarter after securing the opening faceoff.  The Cardinals, though, resilient as always, answered just six minutes later with a goal by Conor Malangone ’11.

Williams scored its second goal with 4:43 left in the first quarter and its third with 11:39 left in the second.  Unbeknownst to the Ephs, however, that would be the final goal scored by the visitors in the contest.

Aidan Daniell ’14 continued his stellar freshman campaign, scoring his 13th goal of the year on a long shot from the right with 10 minutes to go before halftime, but no one else was able to find the net until after halftime.

While the first half was only 11 seconds old when the first goal was scored, only 29 seconds had elapsed in the third quarter before Malangone scored his second goal of the game, tying the contest at 3.  Malangone then completed the comeback, as well as his first hat trick of the season, with his 11th goal.

For the rest of the game, neither team could find the back of the net, despite a frenetic final two minutes.  With just 1:41 to go, Williams was called for a slashing penalty, and the Cardinals thus had a minute-long one-man advantage.  But Williams’ goalkeeper, who made 12 saves on the day, was able to stop two Cardinal shots on goal during the power play.

Even though the Ephs got the ball back with 20 seconds left and advanced it into the Cardinal box, the Wesleyan defense refused to let them get a shot off.  Wes goalie Grant Covington ’12, who only faced seven shots on goal due to the same stifling defense, snatched up the final ground ball to secure the win.  The defense was so good that they forced 10 of Williams’ 27 turnovers and held the Ephs without a shot at goal for the final 16 minutes of the game.

Wesleyan improved to 9-3 overall and 4-3 in conference with the win, and will face 10th-ranked Amherst this Saturday to decide the Little Three champion.  That game and the following contest against Connecticut College are both crucial to the Cardinals’ seeding in the NESCAC playoffs.  Wesleyan would be the fifth seed if the tournament started today, but if they win both remaining games and get some help from Middlebury and Trinity, they could be seeded as high as second.