After pulling off a comeback for the ages in the NESCAC semifinals against Bowdoin, the men’s lacrosse team came up just short in the conference final, losing a last-second heartbreaker 10-9 to the top-seeded Middlebury Panthers.
The Cardinals led the championship game 5-2 at the half and pushed the lead to 7-3 midway through the third quarter only to see the Panthers mount a stunning comeback. After Mike Vitulano ’06 put the Cards ahead 9-8 with 3:12 remaining in the contest, Middlebury scored twice in the final two minutes.
The game-winner came with no time on the clock, as a Panther defender picked up a loose ball, ran the length of the field, and ended the Cardinals’ bid for their first NESCAC championship.
The two sides felt each other out during a low-scoring first quarter. But after falling behind 2-1 in the second period, Grayson Connors ’08 scored four of the Cardinals’ five consecutive goals to give Wesleyan a 6-2 lead early in the second half.
The Panthers, winners of each NESCAC tournament this millennium, fought back with three straight goals before tying the game midway through the fourth quarter. Having already beaten Middlebury this year, Vitulano and the Cards remained poised as the steadfastly consistent midfielder pocketed two more goals before Middlebury took the game in the waning seconds.
“We showed a lot of heart on Saturday, and Sunday was a tough one but we’re glad to still be playing lacrosse; and we’re looking to do some damage in the NCAAs,” said Tom Bendon ’07.
On the bright side, the sudden end to the NESCAC tournament did not spell the end of the Cardinals’ season. Wesleyan’s flashy 14-3 record earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive year.
The dominance that the Cardinals showed all season also impressed the tournament committee enough to give the Cards a first round bye. As a result, Wesleyan will take on Rochester Institute (15-2) in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
To get to their third consecutive NESCAC championship, though, the Cardinals first beat the talented Bowdoin team in a 16-15 overtime win in the semifinals. Despite beating the Polar Bears 6-3 back in April, the Cards got off to a rough start, falling behind 10-6 at the half.
After seeing Bowdoin score the first four goals of the game, Mike Hines ’07 got the Cards going with his 15th score of the year with 2:43 to play in the first quarter. The Polar Bears got the momentum back quickly though, running the score to 9-3 before tri-captain Glenn Adams ’06 and Vitulano brought Wesleyan back to within shouting distance before the half.
After the break, the Cards tightened up their defense and chipped away at the lead on the offensive end. The team-leading 35th goal of the season from Grayson Connors ’08 brought Wesleyan to within three early in the third period.
Adams’s 14th and 15th tallies of the season, sandwiched around Russell Follansbee’s second score of the game, cut the Polar Bear lead to one just moments into the fourth quarter. A flurry of Cardinal scores put Wesleyan in control before a Polar Bear goal with 6:44 remaining tied the score.
Though neither team could break the deadlock in regulation, Adams fed Vitulano for the game-winner with just over three minutes remaining in overtime.
“After they scored their 15th, we were like, ‘Hey Bowdoin, this is getting kind of old,’” Vitulano said. “So we had to take care of it.”
A win at Rochester Institute in the second round of the NCAA tournament at 1 p.m. on May 13 would earn the Cardinals their second straight Elite Eight appearance.
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