On Saturday, April 19, the men’s lacrosse team shipped up to Boston, Mass. for the highly anticipated rematch of last season’s NESCAC Championship game against Tufts. With Wes a first seed in the upcoming conference tournament on the line, both teams came ready to play.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was not enough; the team eventually fell to the Jumbos 17-11. With the win, the Jumbos claim the first seed with a NESCAC record of 8-1, while the Cardinals will be the second seed in the tournament, as their record in conference play dropped to 7-2.
“I think the team played really hard but lost focus at times,” said Captain Elliot Albert ’14. “Against a team like Tufts, you can’t take a play-off or they will make you pay for it.”
And the Jumbos made the Cards pay. After alternating the first four goals of the game, the Cardinals found themselves down 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. To start the second, Quentin DellaFera ’15 cut the Jumbo lead to one, but the Jumbos quickly responded with two more goals, giving themselves a three-goal cushion. With goals from Lyle Mitchell ’16 and Matt Prezioso ’15, the Cardinals were once again within one with 7:40 remaining in the first half. From then, it was all Jumbos; over the following 12 minutes of play stretching into the third quarter, Tufts went on a 6-1 run and leaped out to a 12-6 lead.
“We played well in the second half; however, we came out a little sluggish in the first half, and that hurt us especially against a good team,” said Captain Sam Stanton ’14. “But I thought we played with a lot of hustle and with a lot of great energy.”
The Jumbos dominated on face-offs, winning 21 of 32 while their goalie made 17 saves, keeping the Cardinals at bay.
“They moved the ball really well and finished when they had an opportunity,” Albert said. “The fact that both their face-off unit and goalie played so well certainly didn’t help our cause.”
Once the Jumbos had taken control of the game, they never looked back, going on to win by a convincing 17-11 score. This was the most goals allowed by the Cardinals this season, and the six-goal difference was also their biggest margin of defeat. On average, the Cardinals have only given up 8.43 goals per game, but the Jumbos lead the NESCAC with an average of 18.72 goals per game.
The Cardinals’ regular season will come to an end on Wednesday, April 23 on Jackson Field when they host the Camels of Conn College.
“Conn plays a zone, so we will definitely be prepared to play against that,” Stanton said.
This game will be a final tune-up for the Cardinals as they get ready to start tournament play on Saturday, April 26. They will begin their postseason play on their home grass of Jackson Field as a result of Wesleyan nabbing the second seed in the NESCAC.
“We’re looking to play with great energy and tighten things up on defense, as well as becoming more efficient offensively,” Stanton said. “We are definitely trending in the right direction so the tournament is coming at a great time.”