The Williams Ephs caught the men’s lacrosse team by surprise last Saturday, jumping out to a commanding lead and then holding on for an 11-10 victory. The loss, which dropped the Cardinals to 10-2 (5-2 NESCAC) and halted Wesleyan’s winning streak at six games, put the Cards in a three-way tie for second place in the NESCAC, behind archrival Middlebury.
The Cards trailed 9-4 at the half as the well-prepared Ephs found success against Wesleyan’s trademark zone defense. After falling behind 2-0 in the early going, Mike Walsh ’06 cut the lead in half off a feed from tri-captain Jordan Funt ’06. 31 seconds later, Mike Hines ’07 equalized with his 12th goal of the year, only to see Williams notch the next six scores.
Wesleyan found itself down 8-2 with less than three minutes remaining in the first half when Mike Vitulano ’06 put in his 16th and 17th goals in a 33-second span. Williams regained the momentum going into the break, though, scoring just 27 seconds before intermission.
“The NESCAC is a tough league and anyone can win on any given day,” said Jesse Bardo ’07. “We were the better team, but we didn’t show up in the first half and they really came to play.”
Tri-captain Glenn Adams ’06, who leads the team with 34 points, got the Cardinals rolling in the second half with his seventh goal of the year. Grayson Connors ’08 followed suit while the Wesleyan defense, which mixed up its defensive scheme and played with more urgency, slowed the torrid pace of the Williams attack.
Goals from Vitulano, Hines, and Alex Kaufman ’08 cut the score to 10-9 with 5:17 remaining in the contest, but that was as close as the Cards would get. Williams added what proved to be the game-winner with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter.
Vitulano and the squad showed admirable poise and resolve, as the midfielder tallied his season-best fourth goal of the game with just 29-seconds to play. An unnecessary roughness call against Williams gave Wesleyan a man advantage for the remainder of the game, but the Cardinals were unable to capitalize, turning the ball over to the Ephs, who were able to run out the clock.
“This one really left a sour taste in our mouths, and we will be more than ready to bounce back for the rest of the season,” said Tom Bendon ’07.
The Cards now trail Middlebury by one game in the race for the number one seed in the NESCAC tournament. Although there are a variety of potential playoff scenarios, Wesleyan must defeat its two remaining opponents, Tufts and Colby, and Middlebury must lose at least one of its final games for Wesleyan to have a chance to win the league.
The Cardinals are at an advantage, however, after beating Middlebury earlier this year for the first time since the 1970s. The winner of the NESCAC receives a first-round bye in the conference tournament and also hosts the league’s Final Four.
The redbirds travel to Tufts for a 7 p.m. tilt on Wednesday. The 9-4 Jumbos have won two in a row and should provide a tough test for the Cardinals who will try to avoid their first losing streak of 2006.
Leave a Reply