After securing home-field advantage in the first round of NESCAC tournament play, the men’s lacrosse team looked to continue improving its draw with a final regular-season victory on the road against Conn College on Wednesday, April 24. The Camels entered the match ranked 15th in Division III and sporting an impressive 8-2 conference record. With their recent string of impressive victories, the Cardinals have managed to soar in the national rankings as well. The most recent polls saw the Cardinals make the leap from the abyss of unranked squads to 18th in the country, another confidence booster for a team that already has so much to boast about entering postseason play. Unfortunately, that was not enough in a neck-and-neck bout with Conn, who handed Wesleyan an 11-10 loss.
The Cardinals jumped out to a strong 6-1 lead in the first quarter as Remy Lieberman ’14 spearheaded a five-goal streak, scoring two himself and dishing out two assists during the stretch. Mike Giambanco ’14 also added a goal and an assist to his final season tally in that run. As the first half came to a close, however, signs of complacency became hard to ignore. The Cardinals surrendered three straight goals to a hungry Camels team to close the margin 6-4 going into the half.
Quentin DellaFera ’14 did his part to keep the momentum in favor of the Cardinals, notching a swift goal out of the gate in the second half as a part of his second hat trick of the season. Undeterred, the Camels fought back with three straight goals to tie up the matchup. The teams traded goals for the rest of the period, finishing up the third frame in a 9-9 stalemate.
The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle—highly uncharacteristic of the style of play the Redbirds have exhibited this season. With 11 minutes left on the clock, the Cards surrendered their first lead of the game. Although DellaFera pushed the game back to a tie and completed his hat trick with seven minutes to go, the Camels had the final say with a game-winning goal with five left to play in the fourth, handing Wes the 11-10 defeat.
With the loss, the Camels will assume the second seed while the Cardinals settle into the fourth. The sluggish and surprising ending to the regular season was a noticeable change of pace for a Cardinal team that has been a consistent 60-minute team. To make any sort of headway in conference play, this cannot be the Cardinals squad to show up for the tournament. The Cardinals have a quick turnaround and will have to make the necessary adjustments in time for Saturday, April 27, when conference tournament play kicks into gear at Jackson Field against Bowdoin. Previously in the season, Bowdoin snapped a four-game Wesleyan win streak, dealing the Cards an overtime loss in Maine. With a more favorable matchup at the friendly confines of Jackson Field, Wesleyan is poised to send a statement that the Cardinals have their eyes set squarely on the conference title.