Box Score 
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Led by freshmen Ella Lesperance and Margie Carden's (pictured) four goals each, the #10 Tufts University women's lacrosse team defeated the #11 Wesleyan University Cardinals 16-11 on Saturday afternoon at Smith Field in Middletown, Connecticut. Lesperance and Carden each added an assist to finish with five total points.
The Jumbos (9-3, 5-3 NESCAC) had two other multi-goal scorers in the game as Anna Clarke and Caroline Walter both finished with three goals and one assist. Madeline Dalaney and Kathryn Delaney also had one goal each for Tufts, with Madeline adding an assist. Kate Balicki led the way for Wesleyan (9-3, 4-3 NESCAC) with four goals and two assists while Abbey Logan finished with three goals and an assist.
Tufts got on the scoreboard first with goals from Carden and Walter to take the early 2-0 lead. Balicki netted one four minutes later to get Wesleyan on the board and the teams traded goals to end off the first quarter, with goals from Tufts' Madeline Delaney and Clarke, and Wesleyan's Laura Baine to make it 4-2 Jumbos heading into the second.
Clarke and Carden each scored to start the second quarter, but Wesleyan responded with back-to-back goals from Logan and Balicki. Tufts countered the Cardinals' response and fired four shots past Wesleyan goalie Abby Wolk to finish off the first half. Lesperance and Walter had two goals each in the run and the teams went into halftime with a 10-4 score in favor of the Jumbos.
The Cardinals fought back in the third quarter, outscoring Tufts 6-5 with goals from Balicki, Gil Horst, Molly Greer, Blaine and Logan scoring two. A three-goal run with just under nine minutes in the quarter helped keep Tufts comfortably in the lead as Clarke, Carden and Lesperance scored the consecutive goals. This is when both teams played tighter defense, as both teams allowed just one goal in the fourth quarter. Balicki had the Cardinals' goal just under 10 minutes into the quarter and Carden added one for Tufts with two minutes remaining in the game, clinching the 16-11 victory for the Jumbos.
Tufts goalie Molly Laliberty finished the game with seven saves while the combination of Wolk and Corin Grady made six saves for Wesleyan, with Grady saving four and Wolk saving two. Clarke won eight draws and Madison Lehan caused four turnovers and collected five ground balls for the Jumbos. Indigo Pellegrini also had eight draw controls for Wesleyan, while Kiara Tangney caused three TO's and picked up two ground balls.
The Jumbos will return home to host Emmanuel College on Wednesday, April 20 at 7 pm.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
