HARTFORD, Conn. — Jon Krikorian (Windam, N.H.) netted the eventual game-winner with 47 seconds remaining on the clock in the third quarter as the Trinity College men's lacrosse team earned a hard-fought 16-15 victory on the road against #15 Wesleyan University on Wednesday, the program's first win against the Cardinals since 2011. The Bantams improved to 6-6 on the season and 3-4 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, while the Cardinals dropped to 7-4 and 4-3. Trinity remains on the road at Hamilton College with a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday.
The Navy & Gold trailed after the first quarter after three-straight in the opening seven and a half minutes from the home team before Andrew Bailey (Madison, N.J.) snapped the scoring drought for Trinity with an unassisted goal with 2:55 on the clock. The Cardinals put up a pair of goals to close out he final two minutes in the quarter. Trinity came back with a vengeance in the second quarter with eight goals to give the team a one-point edge going into the half.
Ryan Werner (Weston, Conn.) notched the second goal for the visitors off the quick pass from Jack Almeida (New Canaan, Conn.), followed by goals from Harrison Ike (Allentown, Pa.) and Bailey to cut the deficit to within two. Ike evened the score at 7-7 off the pass from Werner with 2:33 left in the second quarter before DJ Dixon put Wesleyan up, 8-7. Back-to-back goals by Ethan Cobb (Matthews, N.C.) and Bailey tied the game then regained the lead for Trinity in the final 13 seconds to put the team up, 9-8.
The Bantams kept the momentum alive after halftime to outscore Wesleyan in the third quarter, 3-2, as Krikorian connected for a pair of goals and one with eight seconds left in the quarter from Werner for the 12-10 lead. The fourth quarter was dicey for the Bantams as Wesleyan tallied five goals but the rally was too late. Tyler DeSimone (St. James, N.Y.) quickly put Trinity up by three in the opening minutes of the quarter but it would be almost five minutes later before a goal as CK Giancola narrowed the deficit for Wesleyan by two. Cobb netted two goals for the visitors along with Peter Cannon (Houston, Texas) to give Trinity the 16-12 edge.
Three-consecutive goals by the Cardinals brought the score to within one as the last Wesleyan goal connected with five seconds remaining on the board. In the net, Cooper Yaccino (Kenilworth, Ill.) stopped two shots by Wesleyan during its late-quarter rally to keep the Bantams alive, along with a pair of blocks and a close shot off the crossbar. The rally was aided as Trinity drew four penalties from 2:15 on which led Wesleyan to score its three unanswered goals.
Trinity outshot Wesleyan 17-15 and had a 13-9 ground ball advantage. Yaccino totaled 16 saves, while Weslyan's starting goalkeeper grabbed 14. The Bantams remained vigilant in defense to force 10 turnovers as Will Nelson (Darien, Conn.), John Cowdrick (Lexington, Mass.) and Hugh Curran (Needham, Mass.) each caused two.
