Postgame Press Conference
MEDFORD, Mass. -- For the third straight year, the fifth-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team closed out its season in the NCAA Quarterfinals as the Captains dropped a 15-7 decision to No. 12 Wesleyan on Saturday evening at Tufts' Bello Field.
After slipping out to an early lead, CNU still held an edge late into the second quarter before Wesleyan evened the score at five just before the break. Then, in the third period, the Cardinals went on a quick three-goal spurt to steal the momentum and grab a lead they would never relinquish.
During the contest,
Jamie Smith posted his 16th hat-trick of the year while finishing his senior campaign with 84 total goals. That equaled the program's single-season record, matching his own effort from last spring. Meanwhile, he also sank his 25th career man-up goal, tying fellow All-Americans Dylan Rice and
Brett Jackson for the all-time school standard.
Equally effective on the offensive end,
Kevin Miller dished out four assists, while
Fred Fulkerson and
Jackson Platner had two points apiece.
Doing his best to feed the attack while controlling possession during the contest,
Grant Giunchi won 17 of his 24 faceoffs and hauled in six ground balls. His 17 victories equaled the third-highest total by a Captain in NCAA Tournament history.
With his performance, Giunchi finished the season with 211 faceoff victories, joining CNU Hall of Famer Tony Cruz and perennial All-American
Warner Cabaniss as the only Captains to record at least 200 in a single campaign.
Meanwhile, on the defensive end,
Brett Kelley forced a pair of turnovers and set a new career-high with eight ground balls. With that performance, the junior All-American finished the year with 84 total rollers, marking the second-most by a non-faceoff specialist in program history.
With the setback, Christopher Newport wrapped up the 2026 campaign with an 18-4 record. On the other side, Wesleyan improved to 14-4 and locked up a spot in the Final Four. The Cardinals will continue their season tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against No. 1 Tufts, who defeated No. 6 York (Pa.), 22-9, in the first game of Saturday's twin bill.
Early on, the Captains stormed out to a fast 2-0 lead in the first six minutes of action. Kicking off the contest, Fulkerson buried a low-to-high heater in the top left corner of the cage. Then, just moments later, he flipped a pass to Smith, who burned a bullet underneath the keeper from the left alley to grab a quick two-goal cushion.
Although the Cardinals eventually responded in the seventh minute, CNU settled in on the defensive side.
Rory Keverline blanketed an attacker in the left alley and pried the ball loose to kill an early threat. That was his 26th takeaway of the season, tying current assistant coach and former All-American
Campbell Pozin for the most by a short-stick specialist in school history.
Moments later, on Wesleyan's next trip down the field,
Colin DeGrassi contested a shot at the top of the zone to force an off-target rip before
Mason Bellinger made back-to-back saves along the left pipe.
On the ensuing clear attempt, Bellinger slowly inched his way towards midfield before sidestepping a Cardinal and tossing a 30-yard floater to
Garrett Bralley. After collecting the pass, the junior loaded up and uncorked a long-pole laser into the bottom left corner of the cage for his second career goal.
Trading blows, Wesleyan landed two straight strikes to knot the score at three, but the Captains refused to fall behind. Tightening up on the back end,
Will Cramp deflected a pass in traffic to thwart a surge before Miller came down with a leaping interception on a failed clear near the center stripe. Later, Bellinger made a save from his knees, while DeGrassi handled the rebound to keep the game knotted at three entering the second quarter.
With a fresh 15 minutes on the clock, the two teams continued their seesaw battle. During a man-up situation, Miller faked a flip from the right alley before lacing a pass to Smith, who unloaded a screamer on the interior. Then, after the Cardinals responded, Miller came back for more.
In the 26th minute, the junior All-American dodged a defender along the right post to gain a little space. With some room to work, he fired a skip pass to Platner, who threaded a long-range rocket through a crowd before tucking it into the bottom left corner of the cage.
Moments later, the Cardinals landed their fifth blow of the game to pull even entering halftime.
Keeping the momentum after the break, Wesleyan scored three times in the first four minutes of the second half to steal an 8-5 advantage. Battling back, Smith responded with his second man-up tally of the contest to pull the Captains back within two.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals were undeterred. Orchestrating a lethal response, the squad went on another three-goal surge to lock up an 11-6 lead with only minutes to go in the third quarter.
Trying to regain some rhythm, CNU settled in on both sides. First, on the defensive end,
Caden Cunningham had a quick close out at the top of the zone to force an off-target shot during a man-down situation. Then, mere moments later, Bellinger sacrificed his body and took a blast to the rib cage while stoning a point-blank rip along the right pipe.
Capitalizing on Bellinger's grit, Christopher Newport immediately cleared the defensive end and found some life on the other side of the field. Running a little give-and-go,
Ryan Miller flipped the ball to his older brother before squeezing through a pair of defenders in the right alley. After collecting the return feed, the freshman phenom stung a screamer under the crossbar to cut the deficit back down to four.
Sadly, Wesleyan never lost its footing. The Cardinals added another goal just before the end of the third quarter before tossing another one on the board just two minutes into the fourth frame.
Staring at a 13-7 hole, CNU battled until the bitter end. On the defensive side, Kelley buried an attacker in the turf and stole the ball along the restraining line. Later, the Captains forced back-to-back shot-clock violations, but the Cardinals were more than willing to sacrifice a few possessions to run time off the scoreboard.
Eventually, with little left to prove, Wesleyan tacked on two late goals to lock up the 15-7 victory.
Overall, the Cardinals held a 39-31 lead in shots, while Christopher Newport had a 31-25 advantage in ground balls. Along with Kelley's eight rollers, Cramp, DeGrassi, and Smith all had three apiece. Meanwhile, Bellinger finished with five saves, which pushed his record-setting total to 286 stops this year.
---ISH---
