MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Matching the score of the regular-season meeting between the teams four weeks earlier in Brunswick, Me., Wesleyan, ranked fourth nationally in Division III, extended its winning streak this season to 10 games with a 7-3 win over Bowdoin in a first-round NESCAC tournament game. Wesleyan advances to the semi-finals at Tufts University Saturday, May 5 where it will take on Little Three rival Williams, which defeated Amherst, 9-5. Wesleyan upended Williams by an 11-7 count during the regular-season and defeated the Ephs in a NESCAC tournament game a year ago, 12-5. Tufts and Middlebury square off in the other semifinal.

Wesleyan got the game's opening three goals vs. Bowdoin, all in the first period, and held a 4-1 edge after 15 minutes. Freshman Jon Killeen initiated the scoring by picking up a rebound to put Wesleyan ahead for good at 8:55. Senior Mike Hines added a bouncer less than two minutes later to make it 2-0 and freshman Lonnie Blumenthal finished off the flurry by cutting to the net and receiving a sharp pass from sophomore Jason Ben-Eliyahu at 6:23.

Though senior Matt Chadwick got Bowdoin on the board after catching a centering pass from senior Alex Weaver at 3:46, sophomore Adam Kirk's shot from long range found the net for Wesleyan for the 4-1 advantage. The teams played to a scoreless second period. The Cardinals upped the margin to 6-1 with a pair of goals in the opening two minutes of the third stanza with juniors Grayson Connors and Dan Latzman doing the honors. Bowdoin responded with a pair of late goals just 13 seconds apart as first-year Adam Tracy finished off a fast break set up by a senior Kevin Mullins pass followed by a rush by defenseman sophomore Bryan Holden, who scooped up the ensuing faceoff and drove in for his second goal of the year.

Connors completed the day's scoring with his 21st goal of the season with Ben-Eliyahu assisting as Wesleyan netted the only goal of the fourth quarter. Wesleyan goalie Charlie Congleton recorded 10 saves on the afternoon while Bowdoin netminder Charles Legg had 12.

Wesleyan has played in the last three NESCAC championship games, losing each time to Middlebury while still receiving at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in both 2005 and 2006 with a national semi-final appearance last May. The Cardinals lost that game at Cortland St. in overtime.

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MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - The second-seeded Wesleyan Univesity men's lacrosse team stifled Bowdoin College en route to a 7-3 victory in the first round of the NESCAC Championship Sunday. The Polar Bears end their season with a record of 7-8. The Cardinals improve to 15-1 this year.

Wesleyan never trailed Sunday, taking a 3-0 lead in the first nine minutes and allowing just one Bowdoin goal in the first 41:57 of play. Matt Chadwick accounted for the lone Polar Bear score during that stretch, coming late in the first quarter that cut the Cardinal lead to 3-1. But Wesleyan extended their advantage to 4-1 at halftime and, later, to 6-1 in the third quarter before Adam Tracy and Bryan Holden scored just 15 seconds apart before the end of the frame, cutting the advantage to 6-3.

But Wesleyan held Bowdoin to just seven shots in the final quarter and Grayson Connors scored his second goal of the game with just 6:18 remaining to seal the victory. Charlie Legg played valiantly in goal for Bowdoin, stopping a dozen shots. Wesleyan's Charlie Congleton made 10 saves in the victory.

Box Score

2007-04-29