The women’s lacrosse team headed to Medford, Mass. this past Saturday, April 20 to take on the Tufts Jumbos. This marked the penultimate regular season game for the Cardinals, one that they needed to win to preserve a chance of making the postseason tournament. The squad’s 0-9 record in the NESCAC—one of the toughest conferences in the nation—has fallen short of preseason expectations, and the Cardinals needed to win this match in order to secure the 10th and final seat in the NESCAC tournament. Unfortunately, the Jumbos, who are ranked 19th in Division III, cruised to victory in this match, beating down Wesleyan by a 17-5 margin.

Tufts controlled the tempo of the game from the very onset. After the first 10 minutes of the game, the Jumbos lead with a score of 7-0. At 19:24, Lydia Kring ’13 was the first Cardinal to score, taking full advantage of a free shot position. After yet another Tufts goal, Martha Harding ’16 gained possession in a draw control, sprinted up the field, and scored unassisted, bringing the sore to 8-2 after about 16 minutes of play. Though Kaylin Berger ’13 notched another goal for the Cardinals on an unassisted effort with 8:24 remaining, these intermittent snipes were no match for the Jumbo onslaught. When the two teams finally broke for halftime, Tufts had extended its lead to 13-3, leaving Wesleyan with an imposing deficit to battle against.

The Cardinals rallied in the second half, as Kayla Ellman ’13 netted the period’s first goal unassisted at 25:04. However, this first strike was not nearly enough to topple Tufts. The Jumbos coasted on offense to the tune of four second-half goals, but they held Wes to just two of its own. Audrey Le ’15, assisted by Hannah Plappert ’16, sent home the final goal of the match with 2:17 to go, but Tufts still walked away with an easy 17-5 win.

Aside from the Cardinal’s five goal scorers, Abby D’Angelo ’14 helped to lead the team this match with three ground balls. Freshman goalie Nina Labovich also had five saves against Tufts.

The women’s lacrosse team will play their final regular season match this Wednesday, April 24 at home against Conn College.