c/o Sterling Rodas
In Play(er) of the Week, we seek to highlight outstanding Wesleyan athletes or segments from games that deserve extra attention. This week, we will be highlighting a moment from the Wesleyan women’s lacrosse team’s game against No. 13 ranked Trinity on Wednesday, April 12.
After last week’s defeat against No. 1 nationally ranked Middlebury on Saturday, April 8, the Cardinals were ready to get back on track as they headed to Hartford to face the Bantams for their next game just four days later.
Though Trinity started off strong, scoring the first goal of the game less than three minutes into first period, the Cardinals responded swiftly and the teams traded goals throughout the quarter, resulting in a 4–4 tie score.
The second period featured more back-and-forth between the Cards and the Bantams until with six minutes remaining, the Red and Black scored six goals: by captain Olivia Lai ’23, Molly Greer ’24, Kiara Tangney ’25, two by Kendall Mittleman ’23, and two by Chessy Greenwald ’23. This secured a decisive 13–9 lead for the Cards going into the third.
But the Blue and Gold would not go down without a fight. Though Tangney netted another goal to start off the period, the Bantams answered with three of their own, narrowing Wesleyan’s lead to just 14–12 at the end of the quarter and giving themselves a strong shot at clinching the victory.
Yet, even in the face of mounting pressure, the Cardinals proved that they were not about to back down from the challenge. Captain Gil Horst ’23 scored back-to-back goals to open up the period, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 16–12 with 11 minutes remaining. Greer then netted her third goal of the day only a minute later. Then Laura Baine ’24 punched in her first goal of the day and Lai followed with one of her own to cap off their spectacular five-goal run, giving the Red and Black a commanding seven-goal lead with only seven minutes to go.
The Bantams managed one more goal with less than five minutes remaining in the game, but ultimately, were unable to make up the deficit. At 1:35 Sam DeLeo ’25 scored the final goal of the game, bringing the final score of the game to 20–13.
Among the standout performances of the day, Greer’s three goals and four assists were a career-high in points for her as well as her first hat trick of the season and the second of her career.
Mittleman matched her season-high in points, and also became the third Cardinal this season and the 21st in program history to achieve 100 career points. In her 39 games as a Cardinal, she has totalled 48 goals and 53 assists for 101 points.
The Cardinals now look to continue building momentum as they face off against the No. 5 nationally ranked Tufts Jumbos in Medford this Saturday, April 15. The Cardinals have not won a game against the Jumbos since their 2017 matchup. But given the strength of both teams this season, the matchup promises to be an intense battle.
If you would like to nominate a Play(er) of the Week, please reach out to ebyerly@wesleyan.edu with either the athlete’s name and one sentence about why they deserve to be nominated, or the team, date of the game, players involved, and the segment that you would like to highlight.
Erin Byerly can be reached at ebyerly@wesleyan.edu.