No. 10 Wesleyan Celebrates Senior Day with Wire-to-Wire Win over No. 14 Middlebury

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – On a picturesque Saturday afternoon from Citrin Field, the No. 10 Wesleyan men's lacrosse team never trailed in a commanding 14-6 win over No. 14 Middlebury. Wesleyan (8-2, 4-2 NESCAC) are winners of three straight while the Panthers (5-5, 3-4 NESCAC) are now 1-4 when playing away from home this season.

On a day where Middlebury held a massive 19-5 edge in face off wins, the Cardinals made up for it on defense with a tremendous effort from the entire unit as the Panthers only had 17 of their 49 shots land on goal in this one. Of those 17 shots on goal,

Conor Selfridge '26 made saves on 11 of them as the senior goalkeeper was on his A game throughout to pick up the win.

Wesleyan opened the contest with a 4-1 run as

Gavin Lechner '27 scored in transition for the first goal of the game, followed by a

Ben Burns '26 man-up marker just under five minutes later.

Cooper Mendelsohn '29 took an outlet pass well over midfield from Selfridge and did the rest himself, carrying in for his second goal of the year.

Will Miller '26 made it 4-1 Wesleyan then

Kyle Short '28 scored an unassisted tally with just 13 seconds remaining to hand the Cardinals a 5-2 lead after one.

It was more of the same in the second quarter as Middlebury continued to win the face offs, having won 13 consecutive before the Cardinals got their first win late on in the second quarter, but the Cardinal defense proved up to the task and Wesleyan's attack made the most of their chances to extend the lead. Short, Burns, and Lechner each scored their second of the day before Short completed his hat trick with 1:47 left to make it 9-4 at halftime.

Middlebury outscored Wesleyan 2-1 in the third quarter, keeping the game within reach with a 10-6 deficit heading into the fourth. However, the Panthers' comeback bid came to a halt early in the fourth as goals from Burns and Miller just 48 seconds apart made it 12-6. Then Miller and Burns each scored again before time expired on a 14-6 win.

Short registered his first career hat trick on his way to a career-high five points (three goals, two assists). Burns scored four times while Miller had a hat trick.

James Bailey '26 dished out three assists and Lechner scored twice. Nine other Cardinals each had a point including the first career assists for Selfridge and

Will Hansen '27.

Justin Meyreles '27 had three caused turnovers while

Joe Hurton '27 finished with two caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Charlie Hill '28 and

Lucca Casagrande '26 each finished with two caused turnovers.

Wesleyan heads out on the road for three straight contests starting on Wednesday night with a 7 PM start at Trinity.