MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's lacrosse team fought to the bitter end in a 9-8 overtime loss against No. 6 Wesleyan University on Wednesday afternoon at Citrin Field.
Needing a win in the regular season finale to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Camels erased a 7-2 halftime deficit by scoring the first six goals of the second half. A tally by
Isaiah Kozub (Wilbraham, Mass.) capped the stretch and gave Conn its first lead of the contest at 8-7 with 7:49 left in regulation. However, the Cardinals tied the score with 2:39 to go, and Ben Burns netted the game winner just 1:56 into the extra frame.
Burns finished with a hat trick as Wesleyan improved to 11-3 overall (7-3 NESCAC) and locked up the third seed in the upcoming NESCAC Championship.
Andrew Rainville (Watertown, Conn.) paced the Camels with four goals while
Graydon Diamond (New Canaan, Conn.) handed out four assists.
Conn trailed 2-0 midway through the opening quarter before Diamond and Rainville hooked up to cut the deficit in half. With the Camels trailing 4-1 in the second,
Sean McCarthy (West Roxbury, Mass.) scored on an unassisted effort to keep the visitors close. The Cardinals closed with three scores in the final 4:34 of the half to lead by five at the break.
Rainville and
Liam Horkan (Malden, Mass.) spurred the Camels to a 4-0 advantage in the third period, each providing a pair of goals in the stanza. Conn trailed by one heading into the fourth, and Rainville tied the score at the 11:09 mark with his team-leading 34th goal of the year. Just over three minutes later, Kozub found the back of the cage off a feed from Diamond to put the Camels on top.
In the final five minutes, Wesleyan killed off a 30-second penalty and had a shot denied by goalie
Patrick Hogan (Wyckoff, N.J.) before breaking through for the equalizer. The Cardinals had the final possession of regulation but came up empty, and Hogan made yet another save on Wesleyan's first possession of overtime.
Horkan's two goals brought his career total to 119 and moved him into the top-5 all-time in program history. Hogan finished with 14 saves in goal while
Hayden Carpenter (Baltimore, Md.) caused a season-high five turnovers.
Ardem Sarajian (Ridgewood, N.J.) also went 10-for-16 at the face-off spot and scooped up a game-high eight ground balls.
Conn ended the season with an overall record of 5-9 (1-9 NESCAC).
