The final weekend of the regular season for Wesleyan men’s lacrosse encapsulated their entire season in a two-game microcosm. The Cardinals displayed both their inability to close out tight games and their capacity to do just that, as they lost a close game to a superior opponent and also won one. They showed that they can hang with the best teams in Division III. Perhaps more significantly, they accomplished something quite noteworthy: The #8 seed Cardinals defeated #1 seed Connecticut College in the first round of the NESCAC tournament, becoming the first #8 to upset a #1 in the entire history of NESCAC postseason play.
Before that, however, they had to play Conn. College on Friday in a regular-season finale that had numerous playoff implications. Despite four goals from Jon Killeen ’10, the Cardinals lost by a close 7-5 margin. The loss set up a rematch two days later between Conn. as the tournament’s #1 seed and Wes as the #8.
Wesleyan traveled back to New London on Sunday to try to avenge their defeat at the hands of the Camels. Despite their recent defeat, the Cardinals remained confident in their abilities.
“We really didn’t make any big adjustments for the [second] game,” said Killeen. “We just focused on playing our game.”
In front of 600 fans on a hot, sunny spring day, the Cardinals pulled off the unthinkable. Wes took down Conn. College in another nail-biter, becoming the first team ever, in any sport, to defeat the top seed in the first round of a NESCAC tournament.
“The mindset going into the game was that we really had nothing to lose. Being the eight seed playing the one seed, we knew the pressure was on them. We just went out and played a complete game and everyone rose to the challenge. The NESCAC is a tough league with great parity, and having just played Conn. two days before, and losing in a close match, we knew we had all the motivation we needed to come out and fight for four quarters,” said Killeen.
Killeen himself was a powerhouse, accumulating a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. He opened the scoring for the Cards, responding to the Camels’ first goal of the game in the first period and tying the score at one apiece. He assisted on three of the next four goals as the Cardinals built a 5-3 lead going into the fourth quarter.
But Conn. College had the best NESCAC record this year for a reason, and the Camels weren’t done yet. They scored two straight goals to tie the game up with just over seven minutes left in the fourth, sending their raucous home crowd into a frenzy. But the Cardinals, the defending tournament champions, were able to keep their cool, and Killeen finally put home his second goal of the game with 2:58 left to give Wes a 6-5 lead. After that, the Cards were able to hold on despite the Camels having possession of the ball most of the last three minutes. Goalkeeper Mark Simmons ’13 aided the effort by forcing the Camels to miss the net twice in the closing moments and making a superb save on a point-blank shot with 2:15 to go.
“For the seniors who knew this could have been their last time putting on a Wesleyan jersey, there was a definite sense of leaving it all on the field and playing with no regrets,” Killeen said. “The entire team deserves credit for the way no one backed down. We took their best shot and we came out the winners.”
With the win, the Cardinals advanced to the semifinals for the eighth straight year, and will travel to face #2 seed Tufts this Saturday. The contest will be a rematch of last year’s championship game, which the Cardinals won at Middlebury by a 14-10 score. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Bowdoin-Middlebury semifinal in the championship game.
Lonny Blumenthal ’10 played Robin to Killeen’s Batman in the game, scoring three goals and tallying one assist of his own. Blumenthal’s third goal completed his third hat trick of the season, and gave him his 100th career point, making him the 26th Cardinal to accomplish the feat.
“Becoming the first eight seed to upset a one seed in the history of the tournament was great. I really wasn’t aware of that achievement until after the game, talking in the locker room, but it makes the win all the more memorable,” said Killeen.
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