NESCAC

Repeat Little Three and More

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As the fall sports season comes to an end, let’s hear it for some stand out performances. On Saturday, our football team deflated the Williams Homecoming crowd with an inspiring comeback victory, 30-22. The guys were down 22-8 and came roaring back behind great defensive play and a powerful passing attack. I was watching the game from an airport on the west coast, cheering cross-country.

We won the Little Three in Williamstown, marking the first back-to-back Little Three crowns in football for Wesleyan since 1969-1970. Quarterback Niko Candido ’25 was NESCAC Player-of-the-Week and also won the Golden Helmet from the New England Football Foundation.

Steve McLaughlin Photography

The women’s soccer team was in the NESCAC tournament again this year, and they played the top-ranked Amherst team in Massachusetts on Saturday. It was an incredibly tight match, with the Mammoths coming out on top 1-0. Our team was valiant to the end, finishing their strong season.

Yesterday I was back in Middletown to see the super impressive Volleyball team in the NESCAC quarterfinals. It’s always a rivalry game when we play Amherst, and yesterday was no exception. After a close first set, the Cards dominated their opponent with amazing defensive play and positively scary kills from all sides of the court. Next weekend we host the tournament finals, and I know we can give our team a home court boost!

Photo by Max Forstein ’27

I don’t give enough of a boost to our CREW TEAMS. They have had a wonderful fall, with especially strong finishes at the Head-of-the-Charles and the Head-of-the-Fish. 

Congrats to all our amazing athletes who manage to excel as students while working hard to hone their considerable sports skills. 

Players-of-the-Week!

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It’s early days, but already some Wesleyan athletes have been recognized for extraordinary achievement. Let’s start with a great volleyball player on a tremendous team. Mariko Tanaka ’24 was named NESCAC Player-of-the-Week last week as she had games where she led the team in digs and then in kill percentage. She’s a force for good things and all of her teammates benefit from her strong play.

Speaking of strong play, Liam Devanny ’23 has been all but unbeatable in the goal for the men’s soccer team. He already has multiple shutouts under his belt, including great games against the nationally ranked teams from Tufts and Brandeis. Like volleyball, the men’s soccer team is off to an excellent start, and I’m so pleased to see Liam recognized as a Player-of-the-Week by NESCAC.

And speaking of excellent starts, the football team looked very impressive on Saturday. And most impressive was defensive tackle Nick Helbig ’23, and his strong play was acknowledged with the New England Football Writers’ Gold Helmet Award. This is a signal award for anyone, and especially rare for a defensive tackle. Nick was also named player-of-the-week by NESCAC.

Come out and cheer on Wesleyan’s wonderful student-athletes. Go Wes!

Little Three Hockey Champs! (And More!)

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A quick note of congratulations to the Wesleyan men’s hockey team, which won the Little Three crown this past weekend after a thrilling overtime victory up in Williamstown. The squad has been on a roll, notching 7 wins in a row. One of the key reasons for the success is the standout play of goalie Tim Sestak ’20, who has been named a NESCAC Player-of-the-Week twice this season.

 

The women’s hockey team was not to be outdone, as they knocked off Middlebury, the 6th ranked team in the country!

In other sports news, you may have heard about a Wesleyan alum who had some success Sunday. Congratulations to Bill Belichick ’75, P ’07, Hon. ’05 for his 6th Super Bowl win!

UPDATE:

Tim has just earned another Player-of-the-Week NESCAC award!!

Men’s Basketball NESCAC Champs!!

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An exciting overtime win for The Cardinals for our first ever NESCAC crown in men’s b-ball! More soon!!

UPDATE (from Athletics website + Hartford Courant):

Jack Mackey ’16 hit his sixth three-pointer of the game with 2:14 left in overtime, the first points of the extra period, then fed Joseph Kuo ’17 for a pair of dunks before the Cardinals hits four of six free throws in the final :17 to defeat Amherst, 74-70, and win their first-ever NESCAC championship Sun., March 1 at Trinity.  Wesleyan led most of the game but had to fend off several Lord Jeff rallies to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Divison III Championship.  The field of 63 teams will be announced early Mon., March 2 afternoon with times and locations of games.

The NCAA qualification is the first for men’s basketball.  The NESCAC crown is the sixth by a Wesleyan team in the last 10 years.  Baseball (2014), football (2013), softball (2010), men’s lacrosse (2009) and men’s soccer (2005) are the other prominent Cardinal squads with NESCAC titles to their credit.

This fancy passing (from an earlier playoff game) made ESPN highlights.

You can read more here at Wesleyan site.

And here, the Hartford Courant gives Coach Reilly’s team some fine coverage (with pics):

Go Wes! #thisiswhy