by Rob Barlow
Staff Writer

"Hey baby, ever been with a Little 3 champ?"

If you were out on Saturday night, you might have heard this pickup line from a few guys roaming around campus. Those guys are members of the men’s lacrosse team, who defeated
Williams College 20-15 for the first time in 18 years at the Little 3 championship.

The Cardinals upped their record to 12-1, undefeated in the conference, and are now sitting at 15th position in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association’s national poll. The
Ephs, on the other hand, have fallen to 2-10 and will not qualify for the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament.

"Though [Williams’] record doesn’t show it, they are a very good team," said Head Coach John Raba. "They’ve had a lot of close games and they’re a young team as well. They’re still
learning to play with each other."

Despite their 2-10 record, 0-5 in NESCAC, Williams came out aggressively, challenging every Cardinal drive down field and keeping the score within two goals for most of the first half.

"The closeness of the game wasn’t surprising," midfielder Chris Walsh ’03 said. "We knew that Williams was going to be a tough game. The Little 3 was all they had left in the season to
play for. The past few years we have had a better team or played good enough to beat them, but the cards didn’t fall. [Saturday] our team just wasn’t going to be denied."

NESCAC scoring leader and quad-captain John Landay ’01 put the Cards on the board early, scoring the fist two goals of the game. The rest of the quarter played out with exchanges of
goals between the teams, resulting in a 4-3 Wesleyan advantage.

"They came out real strong, like they really wanted it," said attack Mark Ungar ’02. "By keeping it close in the first half, they sent a message that they weren’t going down without a fight.
And did we [gave] it to them in the second half."

At the half, the Cardinals had increased the lead to 9-7. Coach Raba liked the intensity that the team had displayed thus far, and encouraged them to continue with it into the second half.

"I told them to stay in control of the game, that we needed to slow it down on offense," Coach Raba said. "They had to keep playing hard and to tighten up on defense. We did that."

To start the third, Williams scored a quick goal, but Wesleyan answered with five unanswered goals, eating up seven minutes off the clock. With the 14-8 advantage, the Cardinals began
to run away with the game and the Little 3 championship.

Late in the fourth, when all seemed secured for the Cardinals, there was a collision in front of the Wesleyan cage involving senior quad-captain Luke Cash and an unidentified masked
Williams player. Cash remained on the ground for a few moments before getting up under his own power, playing another minute before being subbed for by Alex Healy ’01.

"[Cash being on the ground] got us nervous because he’s such a huge factor for us," Coach Raba said.

A number of the players attributed the collision as a cheap ‘sore loser’ attack on a nice guy like Cash.

"Luke’s a mentor of mine, even though he plays defense and I play offense," Ungar said. "Well, okay, I guess I really look to him as a role model of how to act as a scholar and a
gentleman. Why, just the other night in Beta, he warned me of the dangers of being naked on the dance floor. These are life lessons you just don’t get from other guys."

"It was a very cheap hit they had on Luke, but what can you expect when opponents play us," defender Ed Yoo ’02 asked. "Opponents will claw and scratch for every chance they get.
I’m surprised they don’t hire snipers in the trees."

Cash, while in goal, collected 13 saves. Other stars of the game included Landay (six goals and six assists), Quad-captain Pat Reid ’01 (two goals and four assists), midfielder Jeff
DelRosso ’01 (three goals), attack Andrew Rotando ’02 (three goals and one assist), and Walsh (two goals and one assist).

Walsh’s final goal of the afternoon came in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter on a pass from Landay.

"I cut down to the crease and John drove from behind," Walsh explained. "My man slid but John held the ball and rolled back behind the cage. As John moved across the back of the
cage I moved across the front. Next thing I knew the ball came over the back of the net. [At] first [I] bobbled it but in the back of my mind I remembered the great Jeff DelRosso, father of
the behind the back, and said to myself, ‘if he can do it then so can I.’ So I quickly threw it behind my back and into the net."

"Walsh’s goals were amazing," Yoo said. "I think they should have put two goalies in the cage. They probably would have had a better chance."

Landay’s twelve-point game was also of note.

"John Landay is one of the most caring and thoughtful people I’ve ever met," Reid said. "But he only has so many points because he cheats. If it wasn’t for human decency, I’d be scoring 18 points a week too."

With the win, the Cardinals have increased their unbeaten streak to nine and their conference record to 6-0, tied with defending NESCAC and national champions Middlebury College. If
the Cards notch wins this week over Tufts University on Wednesday and Colby College on Saturday, they can secure the number one seed, home-field advantage in the NESCAC tournament, and a first round bye even if Middlebury keeps pace, based upon more conference wins.

"Middlebury only plays seven conference games, while we play eight," Ungar said. "They decided they’re too good for the conference and wanted to play other teams. Look what it
might get them…a home date with us in the finals. If only they knew what they were getting themselves into."

"The NESCAC is parting like the Red Sea," Reid said. "And John Raba is our Moses."