Men’s Lacrosse is NCAA Semi-Finalist
Olivia Drake  |
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Glenn Adams 06, at top, is Wesleyan’s leading lacrosse player, scoring 90 goals and 117 assists for 207 points. Charlie Congleton 07, at bottom, is the teams goalie. Both were named All-Americans this year. |
| Posted 05/28/06 |
 A year ago, the Wesleyan University mens lacrosse team posted a 13-6 record and made its first trip to the NCAA Division III tournament, winning its first game before falling in the quarter-finals to eventual tournament runner-up Middlebury College. This years team went one step further, reaching the NCAA Division III semi-finals, and came within an overtime goal of a trip to the national championship game.
The semi-final game played in Cortland, N.Y. featured the 10th-ranked Cardinals against 5th-ranked State University of New York (SUNY), Cortland. SUNY-Cortland lead 2-0 in the first quarter, but Wesleyan battled back to earn a 4-3 halftime lead. Scoring the quick goals were Grayson Connors 08, Alex Kaufman 08, Jordan Funt 06 and Chris Jasinski 08 scored. Vitulano added another goal in the third quarter giving Wesleyan a 5-3 lead but Cortland rallied to tie the score before the quarters end. Mike Walsh 06 put Wesleyan up 6-5 in the fourth, but Cortland tied the match with 6:09 to go. The teams stayed even the rest of regulation, but Wesleyan entered sudden death overtime with down a man due to a penalty. Cortland wasted no time in taking advantage and in their first attack, just 42 seconds into the overtime period they scored, winning the match and qualifying for their first NCAA title game since 1981. It was a heart-breaking end to a very successful season for the Wesleyan squad. The Cardinals spent the entire year ranked in the top 15. The team posted a 16-4 record, earned a second consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and was a finalist in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament, losing 10-9 in the final game to Middlebury. The 2006 squad returned 22 letter-winners returned from the 2005 team and added 15 freshmen to the roster. In addition to their NCAA and NESCAC success, the teams highlights include: The teams spot in the national semi-finals, the first time any Wesleyan squad had advanced that far in an NCAA Division III single-elimination tournament (Wesleyan baseball was runner-up in the 1994 NCAA Division III World Series but the format was double-elimination). Glenn Adams 06 led the team with 69 points on 25 goals and 44 assists, bringing his career totals to 90 goals and 117 assists for 207 points. He ranks fourth all-time at Wesleyan. Adams was first-team all-NESCAC for a third consecutive season, a first-team all-New England Division III pick and was invited to the USILA All-American luncheon on May 28. He also was one of 30 Division III players chosen for the annual USILA North-South Senior All-Star Game. Charlie Congleton 07, the teams goalie, was named an All-American as well as first-team all-NESCAC and all-New England. He started all 20 games this season while logging a .678 save percentage and 6.73 goals-against average. His save percentage was ranked second nationally and his goals-against average ranked eleventh. Pete Harris 07 earned second-team all-NESCAC while Mike Hines 07 and Grayson Connors 08 Connors made second-team all-New England. Head Coach John Raba received his second NESCAC Coach of the Year award. He was also the 2001 recipient of the award. |
| By Brian Katten, sports information director |
Mike Mavredakis
Editorial Staff
Sarah Parke