Grayson Connors ’08 scored two goals and assisted on the game winner as the men’s lacrosse team defeated Tufts in a 4-3 defensive battle on Wednesday night. The win pushed the Cardinals’ record to 11-2 (6-2 NESCAC) and clinched a home playoff game in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.
Connors got the Cards on the board 10 minutes into the game with his 30th goal of the season. After Tufts drew even nearly halfway through the second period, Connors, the team’s scoring leader, pocketed his second goal of the night, only to see the Jumbos equalize with just six seconds remaining in the half.
Neither team could break the game open in the second half, but the Cardinals offense did just enough to pull out the victory. Despite falling behind 3-2 early in the third quarter, the Cards retained their composure. Mike Vitualno ’06, who had four goals last weekend against Williams, evened the score with his 20th goal of the season. Just 15 seconds later, Alex Kaufman ’08 added the game winner off a feed from Connors.
The story, though, was the resurgence of Wesleyan’s zone defense after a tough outing last weekend against Williams, in which the Cards allowed nine goals in the first half. The zone, and the intensity of the Cardinal defenders, forced the Jumbos into taking plenty of low-percentage shots.
“Guys were really working hard tonight, and Spike Malagone [’09], after getting trucked at midfield, is living in fear of Russell Follansbee [’09], who has now located his own personal hit stick,” said Tom Bendon ’07.
Of the 31 shots that the Jumbos got off, only 16 required a save from Charlie Congleton ’07, the Cardinal goalie.
Congleton was on his game as well, making 13 saves and upping his save percentage to a gaudy .725 on the season.
While the Cardinals’ defense proved it could carry the team when the offense struggles, the Cards still wished they had capitalized on some easy scoring opportunities against the Jumbos.
“The score doesn’t reflect our true passion for this game,” said Jesse Bardo ’07. “But Mike Hines [’07] is the worst player on our team. He couldn’t even hit an open net. If he had played okay, who knows how many goals we could have scored?”
Still, the victory puts the Cardinals in good shape heading into the conference tournament, which begins this Sunday. Wesleyan will not be sure of its seed until after its home tilt against Colby on Saturday, but if the Cards get by the Mules and Bates beats Middlebury elsewhere in NESCAC competition, then the Cardinals would earn the regular season NESCAC title and the top seed in the tournament.
As the first seed, the Cardinals would receive a first-round bye and would be well rested for the Final Four, which would be played the following weekend in Middletown.
However, if both Wesleyan and Middlebury win on Saturday, the Cardinals would receive the second seed in the tournament and play the lowest-seeded team in the tournament at home on Sunday. Although only Saturday’s games can decide the Cards’ opponent in that scenario, Wesleyan could play any of five teams currently cluttered at the bottom of the NESCAC standings. Wesleyan defeated all of those squads, with the exception of Williams, during the regular season.
The Cards will look to enter the conference tournament on a high note by beating Colby at home on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Leave a Reply