Cardinals Reach Consolation Finals of National Team Tournament After 5-4 Upset of Middlebury
Seeded eighth in the "C" Division and ranked 24th overall nationally, the Cardinals began play in the National Team Tournament in the Boston area Fri., Feb. 15, dropping an 8-1 decision to NESCAC rival Tufts. Tufts is seeded first in the "C" Division and 17th overall. That put Wesleyan in to the consolation bracket vs. fifth-seeded and #21-ranked Middlebury Sat., Feb. 16, a team Wesleyan had lost to 7-2 back in January. This time, thanks to wins by Robert Broadfoot '10 at #1, Matt Candal "11 at #2, Benjie Messenger-Barnes '09 at #5, JZ Golden '08 (photo insert upper right) at #6 and Tyler Snell '09 at #9, the Cardinals prevailed, 5-4. Golden, after falling behind 2-0, strormed back to take a 3-2 decision while Broadfoot also won by a 3-2 count. The team closed out the tournament against Stanford Sun., Feb. 17 with a 5-4 loss to finish in 22nd place nationally. Broadfoot, Candal, Golden and Snell all won again in the match vs. Stanford for a 2-1 weekend. The lone Wesleyan winner vs. Tufts was #7 Dale Kobrin '11 (main photo) as he captured an exciting 3-2 match. He led the team in victories this season with an individual record of 12-9, one of five Cardinals to play in each of the team's matches this year. Snell had the team's finest winning percentage at .667 with an 8-4 mark. The team outcome vs. Tufts was much closer than the final score as #2 Matt Candal '11 lost three straight overtime games while three other Cardinals captured games from their Jumbo foe before falling, two by a score of 3-1 and one by a 3-2 count. The team finished the year with a 10-11 record.
