MIDDLETOWN, CT – The #16 York College women's lacrosse team saw their 2024 campaign come to a close as they dropped a 16-6 decision to #2 Wesleyan University in Sunday's NCAA Tournament second round game.
The Spartans had trimmed their deficit to two goals midway through the third quarter but the Cardinals ended the game on an 8-0 run to put the game away.
Wesleyan improves to 17-3 overall while the Spartans fall to 14-7. The loss snaps York's school-record 11-game win streak.  
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got off to a good start as senior Jen Campbell found the back of the cage on York's opening possession. Campbell's goal came off a pass from Gianna Huet. Wesleyan answered three minutes later as Olivia Lai, the Cardinals' leading scorer, converted a free position chance to tie the game. Wesleyan scored just under 30 seconds later as Wesleyan turned a York turnover into another Lai goal in transition to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
• Wesleyan made it 3-1 on a great individual effort from Lai. She took the ball across the face of the goal and blistered a shot into the back of the net with 4:41 left in the first. Lai struck again with 1:41 remaining in the on a free position shot as she tallied her third goal of the game. Dylan Green made it 5-1 when she carried the ball from the far left wing and drove towards the goal before finishing the chance with 34 seconds left in the quarter.
• Green struck again to start the second quarter as the Cardinal run reached six goals. Wesleyan made it 7-1 four minutes later as the Spartans committed their ninth turnover which the Cardinals quickly turned into a Laura Baine goal. The Spartans ended the run as Madison Kurland fed a pass to Sydney Mentzer on the left wing and Mentzer finished the chance to draw York to within five at 7-2. Kurland notched her first goal of the game just under three minutes later as she drove through three defenders before finishing off the opportunity on the door step, making the score 7-3. The Cardinals answered with a fifth Lia goal on a free position power play tally. York's Natalie Neiman closed out the first half scoring with a tally with 2:59 left in the half. The Spartans had a free position opportunity late in the second quarter but the shot went wide as York went to the break down four.
• Grad goalie Bella Garabo kept the Spartans in the game in the opening 30 minutes of play as she notched eight saves in the opening two quarters. The Cardinals out shot York 16-13 while the teams were both sloppy with the ball. York had nine turnovers while Wesleyan had eight miscues in the first 30 minutes of play.
• The Spartans made some good adjustments at the half. York scored the first two goals of the second half as Campbell notched her second goal of the game on a free position shot just under three minutes into the stanza. Mentzer scored her second goal of the game just under six minutes later, cutting the Cardinal lead to 8-6 with 6:13 left in the quarter.
• Unfortunately for York, the Cardinals would hit York with an 8-0 run over the final 17:14 of the game. That run turned a two-goal deficit into a ten goal defeat. The run began with a trio of goals in the final 2:14 of the third as the Cardinals pushed the lead back to five. Wesleyan iced the game with a five goal fourth quarter as they rolled into the next round.
 
By The Numbers
The Cardinals out-shot the Spartans 27-21 including 26-16 in shots on goal … both teams notched 15 ground balls … both teams had 10 goalie saves … York committed 18 turnovers to 14 for Wesleyan … the Cardinals were credited with 16 caused turnover while York had 12 caused turnovers … after being perfect in the clear yesterday, the Spartans were 16-for-19 while Wesleyan was 19-for-21 … Wesleyan edged the Spartans 14-12 in draw controls.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans fall to 0-2 all-time against Wesleyan as both losses have come in the NCAA Tournament … York is now 14-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … York is now 6-4 all-time in second round games … the 16 Wesleyan goals ended a run of 12 games in which the Spartan defense held their opponents to single digits in goals … the 16 goals allowed were the second highest total allowed this year by York (18 vs. Gettysburg on March 20) … the six goals scored for York tied the lowest goal total of the year (at Salisbury on March 30) … York was just 1-for-5 in free position shots for the game while the Cardinals were an efficient 4-for-7 … Madison Kurland led the Spartan offense as she had three points on a goal and two assists … Kurland also had a ground ball and two draw controls … sophomore Sydney Mentzer had two goals and a caused turnover for the Green and White … senior Jen Campbell recorded two goals for the Spartans … Natalie Neiman scored York's other goal … grad defender Sarah Christensen closed out her outstanding career with three ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers … Molly Rosewag added two caused turnovers and two ground balls … Christina Vendelis and Katie Jeanes each collected three draw controls in the game … grad goalie Bella Garabo went the distance in goal as she made ten saves in the setback … Garabo also had three ground balls and two caused turnovers for York … Garabo finishes the year with a career mark of 41-15, a goals against average of 7.51 and a .528 save percentage in her 73 Spartan games and 3,179:34 minutes in goal as a Spartan … Christensen finished the season three caused turnovers short (33) of tying the single season school record of 36 … Gianna Huet's five game-winning goals were second on the single season list … Garabo's campaign saw her rank fifth in single season saves (157), fourth in save percentage (.513), and fourth in wins (14) … the Spartans have now won at least 14 games in nine seasons under the leadership of head coach Jen Muston … Muston just completed her 17^th year at the helm of the program as she owns a career mark of 222-90 overall.
 
Up Next
The loss concludes another championship season for the Green and White as they earned their third straight MAC Commonwealth title last weekend. The Spartans will say goodbye to their trio of graduate students and two of their three seniors. Christina Vendelis, Sarah Christensen and Bella Garabo each had fantastic fifth years in the Green and White while Jen Campbell and Madison Kurland closed out their four-year Spartan careers. Logan Ward missed this season due to injury and is planning on returning to the field next year.