MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- The Bates men's lacrosse team wrapped up a memorable 2025 season Sunday afternoon, battling third-seeded Wesleyan before falling 15-6 in the NESCAC Championship Tournament quarterfinals at Citrin Field. The Bobcats, seeing their first postseason action since 2019, showed resilience throughout, keeping pace early before the nationally ranked Cardinals pulled away in the second half.

Wesleyan (11-4) set the tone early, getting on the board first at 12:11 of the first quarter when CK Giancola struck unassisted for his 43rd goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Jack Raba made it 2-0 Wesleyan with another unassisted tally at 10:13. The Cardinals kept the pressure on as Ben Burns, assisted by Raba, scored at 8:18 to stretch the lead to three.

Bates (9-7) answered at 7:42 when Connor Hartman found the back of the net to make it 3-1, and Gray Doyle brought the Bobcats within one at 00:39, finishing a feed from Denzel Evans. However, Wesleyan responded just before the quarter break, as Will Shull scored with one second remaining to give the Cardinals a 4-2 advantage.

The second quarter saw more tight play. Giancola buried his second of the game at 10:42 on another assist from Raba, but Doyle and Evans connected again at 4:47 to keep Bates within striking distance at 5-3. Wesleyan regained momentum before halftime, with Charlie Hoban scoring off a Giancola feed at 1:28 to send the Cardinals into the break up 6-3.

Bates showed life early in the third quarter when Riley McClure ripped home a goal at 12:15, assisted by Doyle, narrowing the margin to 6-4. But Giancola continued his prolific day, scoring two goals in the final minutes of the third (at 3:13 and 1:08, both assisted by Raba) to push the Wesleyan lead to 8-4 entering the fourth.

The Cardinals blew the game open in the final frame, scoring six straight goals to start the period. Shull (13:54), Burns (13:18), Hoban (12:42), Matt Morrow (11:05), Lucca Casagrande (5:01), and Giancola (4:23, man-up) all found the net during the barrage, growing the advantage to 14-4. Hartman stopped the bleeding momentarily with a man-down goal for Bates at 3:33, but Wesleyan's Devin O'Sullivan scored at 1:41 to restore the 10-goal cushion. Bates capped the scoring with Luke Breen tallying off another Evans assist at 00:41.

Giancola led all scorers with five goals and two assists, while Raba dished out four assists to go with his goal. Will Miller also contributed three assists for Wesleyan. For Bates, Doyle finished with two goals and one assist while Hartman added a pair of goals.

Wesleyan out-shot Bates 43-26 and won 14 of 23 face-offs. Conor Selfridge made 12 saves in goal for the Cardinals before giving way late in the fourth quarter. Andrew Toland had 12 saves for the Bobcats in the setback.

With the win, Wesleyan advances to take on No. 2 Bowdoin in the NESCAC semifinals, next Saturday (May 3) at Tufts University. The Polar Bears edged No. 7 Hamilton, 13-12, in overtime Saturday in its first-round contest.