The reigning NESCAC Champion Wesleyan men’s lacrosse team got off to a fast start—and since then, there’s been no stopping them.
The season kicked off on Saturday, March 1, 2025, with a home matchup against Colby. The Cardinals came out firing on all cylinders with a five-goal run to open the game. From there, their momentum never wavered; the Mules never got within four goals of the Cards the entire time, resulting in a 14–7 victory. Among the standout performers of the game was attacker Gavin Lechner ’27, who recorded a career-high seven points, with one goal and six assists.
However, the following weekend’s competition would prove to be much stiffer as the Cards went on the road to face the No. 3 nationally ranked Salisbury University, undoubtedly the toughest non-conference opponent they’d face in the regular season.
The first half proved to be a tight battle up until the last six minutes, when a three-goal run from the Cards allowed them to assume a 9–6 lead going into the half. The Gulls, however, would not go quietly, ripping eight straight goals to put them up 14–9 four minutes into the fourth quarter. Although the Cards managed to tack on another three goals, it was not enough to make up the deficit and the game ended in a 12–16 loss for Wesleyan.
“We wanted to prove that we were a team that deserves to be discussed at the same level as Salisbury,” captain and midfielder Willard Shull ’25 said. “Going into it, we have nothing to lose, only everything to prove and to gain. So that was the mentality…and we really showcased that in the first half. Unfortunately, we didn’t sustain it for the full 60. But it’s a great learning experience, and as we’ve progressed through the year, I think…a major point we want to hit on is to play a full 60 minutes.”
On Monday, March 10, the Cardinals got back to their winning ways with another non-conference battle against Stockton University, whom they defeated handily 26–5.
Having taken care of business on the road, the Cardinals returned home and prepared to face another of their first major tests of the season with their Little Three matchup against Williams on Saturday, March 15.
The first quarter was tight as the teams traded goals, though the Cardinals maintained a narrow 6–4 lead by the end. The second proved much more unbalanced, culminating in a four-goal run featuring two scores each from captain and midfielder CK Giancola ’24 MA ’25 and midfielder James Bailey ’26 that put the Cards up 11–6 at the half. From there, the Cardinals took off, opening the third quarter with a hat trick by attacker Benjamin Burns ’26 that set the tone for the rest of the game. In total, the Cardinals outscored the Ephs 11–5 in the second half, resulting in a huge 22–11 Little Three dub for the Dirty Birds.
“Offensively, we just exploded,” Bailey said. “That’s supposed to be a team that wants to beat us as badly as we want to beat them, and then we just came out and destroyed them. That was a very fun game.”
The Cards then faced their second nationally ranked opponent of the season on the road, taking on No. 13 ranked Stevens Institute of Technology. Despite a six-goal run by the Ducks at the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals cut the lead and were down just 5–7 by the half. In the second half, the Cards quickly flipped the script and poured in seven goals while holding the Ducks to just three, securing their 12–10 come-from-behind victory.
“It’s just a testament to our mentality of getting the next play regardless of what’s going on,” short-stick defensive midfielder Charlie Wilmot ’26 said. “So I think being able to make those adjustments and stay positive throughout the course of the game, and realizing that we’re going to be able to make a comeback regardless of the situation—that’s really important for us.”
The Cardinals then faced a lengthy string of NESCAC matchups, starting with Bates on Saturday, March 22. The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with the Bobcats taking a 7–6 lead going into the break. The third quarter was similarly tight, but four goals, including two from Lechner, gave the Cards a 10–9 lead at the top of the fourth. With the clock winding down and pressure mounting, the Cardinals locked in to go on a five-goal run, featuring three scores by Giancola, that closed out the game to defeat the Bobcats 16–12.
“Getting that win was huge for us,” Bailey said. “They had just beaten Williams in overtime, and felt really good about themselves. And then we go out and show them who’s still the boss and who’s still at the top of the NESCAC.”
The Cardinals then faced the No. 15 nationally ranked Middlebury, whom the Cards had last seen in the 2024 NESCAC Championship when they defeated the Panthers 9–7. The game was incredibly close, with neither team leading by more than one score during the first three quarters. Wesleyan nabbed the lead with less than a minute and a half to go, but back-to-back Panthers’ goals with less than twenty seconds remaining sealed their fate, handing Wesleyan a heartbreaking 9–10 loss.
“There’s a lot of different plays that could have won us the game,” Shull said. “But I think our defense did a great job holding down the fort. If our D can hold a team to under 10 goals, that’s great. The offense should produce. I don’t know if it was necessarily our most complete game, definitely a lot of mistakes, but a really good learning experience.”
Looking to bounce back, the Cards went on the road to play their second and final Little Three matchup of the year against No. 6 nationally ranked Amherst. Once again, the game was tight from the jump, with the Cards down 4–5 going into the break. But the second half proved to be a true defensive battle, with the only scores in the third quarter being three from Wesleyan. Lechner tacked on another at the top of the fourth and the Mammoths responded with two of their own during the last seven minutes of play.
Ultimately, the Wesleyan defense held strong and the Mammoths were unable to mount a successful comeback, resulting in an 8–7 victory for the Cardinals and their second Little Three Championship in a row.
“I think winning that game was a really big confidence builder for us,” Wilmot said. “We can take an offense that was averaging a certain number of points a game and hold them to half of that. So that ended up being good for us.”
The Cards then faced one of their most anticipated matchups of the year against the No. 1 nationally ranked and reigning NCAA Champions Tufts.
“That is a game that we circle on our calendar,” Shull said. “We embrace the idea of us being an underdog because we know when push comes to shove, we’re gonna compete and match up really well against them.”
Tufts came out strong with a three-goal run to open the game, but the Cards were quick to respond and were trailing just 3–5 at the end of the first. The second quarter was a shootout, featuring three goals by attacker William Miller ’26, two by Giancola, and two by Burns, resulting in the Cards being down 10–11 at the half. The Jumbos extended their lead slightly to 16–14 by the end of the third.
But, no strangers to come-from-behind victories, the Cardinals were not going down without a fight. The teams traded goals throughout the fourth, and with less than six minutes to go, Wilmot tied the score up 18–18. Burns then found the back of the net to give Wesleyan their first lead of the game with less than three minutes remaining. But Tufts managed to tie the score just 26 seconds later.
With less than ten seconds to go and the game on the line, Jack Raba ’23 MA ’25 took possession of the ball and fired what looked to be the game winning shot. But the near side referee called the play dead on a crease violation, and the game went into overtime. After Tufts won the faceoff and failed to make their first two shot attempts, they secured the ground ball and fired another that found the back of the net, defeating the Cardinals 19-20 OT.
“Obviously I wish it went our way, but sometimes that happens and that just adds to our battle-tested [nature],” Wilmot said. “We know we can go punch-for-punch with any team in the country, especially the number one team in the country. That’s a good confidence boost for us going forward.”
With Tufts behind them, the Cardinals faced another conference rival on Wednesday, April 9, at Trinity. As has been the story for much of the year, the first half was a back-and-forth dogfight, with the Bantams leading 7–5 at the break. The second half was a different story entirely—the Cardinals ripped off eight goals, with four by Giancola, two by Lechner, and one each by Miller and Burns, while the Bantams were held scoreless in a feat of pure domination by the Cardinals’ defense. The final score was 13–7 Cardinals.
“Defense locked us down and absolutely helped us win that game by starting the transition, sparking the offense by getting us the ball, and letting us go to work, which was awesome,” Shull said.
Looking to build on their momentum, the Cards then faced Hamilton at home on Saturday, April 12. The Dirty Birds got off to a fast start, ripping five straight goals in the first six minutes of play. Although the Continentals attempted to fight back, the Cards were relentless. By halftime they were up 12–5. The Continentals continued to battle through the second half, and outscored the Cardinals 8–5. However, their efforts were not enough and the Cards secured a 17–13 win.
The Cards then continued their hot streak into this week, earning another non-conference definitive victory over Springfield College on Wednesday, April 16, with a final score of 17–5.
This coming weekend, the Cardinals return to NESCAC play with a road matchup against No. 6 nationally ranked Bowdoin, which will undoubtedly prove to be stiff but exciting competition for the Dirty Birds.
“Bowdoin is very big, and [this] is going to be a very fun game,” Bailey said. “They’re ranked very highly. Hopefully it’s another good one that we can come out firing and play up to our level. Hopefully we can host the NESCAC tournament game and keep winning, get ourselves in the NCAA Tournament. But I think our eyes are set on one game at a time right now.”
Erin Byerly can be reached at ebyerly@wesleyan.edu.
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