The No. 1 Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team opened its 2019 campaign with a win on Sunday as the Cardinals defeated their Little Three archrival Williams on Citrin Field, 14-12. Carter Hawthorne and Scott Irwin led the way with three goals apiece for Wesleyan, while Hawthorne added two assists. The Ephs were led by Brendan Hoffman's game-high four goals and Jake Haase's six assists. Haase also scored once to lead all players with seven points. GAME HIGHLIGHTS: It took only two minutes and four seconds for the defending national champs to score their first goal of the new season as Irwin's bounce shot found the back of the net for the early lead. Williams evened the score shortly after but Wesleyan responded with back-to-back goals in a span of 19 seconds from Hawthorne and Uyeki, respectively. Thirty-six seconds later, Kevin Stump received a pass from Haase and sent a shot to the top right corner to cut the deficit to one at the 6:05 mark. It proved to be the final score of the quarter. Within the first 45 seconds of the second, Haase knotted the game at 3-3 with a man-up goal. Wesleyan responded 12 seconds later off a score from Corey Aviles, and back-to-back goals from Hawthorne and Irwin gave the home team a 6-3 advantage at the 12:48 mark. However, Williams rallied with a run of its own and scored four-straight as a score by Cory Lund with 5:49 to play gave the Ephs their first, and only, lead of the game up 7-6. The Cardinals closed out the half on a 2-0 run as a man-up goal by Matt Chase with 3:19 on the clock gave Wesleyan an 8-7 halftime advantage. After a high scoring first half, the teams combined for just three goals in the third. Uyeki increased the lead to two with a wrap-around goal at the 11:23 mark. Williams responded with a score from Brian Greenstein, but freshman Jake Sexton scored his second of the game with a man-up score as the home team led 10-8 entering the fourth. In the final 15 minutes, the teams exchanged goals throughout the quarter and totaled eight scores in all. Jacoby scored just 3:08 into the quarter to extend the lead to 11-8 and Williams would not get within two the rest of the way. INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Wesleyan dominated the faceoff, 21-8, and held a 32-25 edge in ground balls. Five Cardinals scored two or more goals and 11 factored into the scoring. Williams had three players with two or more goals and seven players involved in the scoring. Otto Bohan recorded 16 saves in net for the Cardinals to pick up his first win of the year, while Harry Gahagan registered 12 saves for the Ephs in a losing effort. UP NEXT: The Cardinals are back in action Wednesday, March 6 and will host Coast Guard on Citrin Field at 6 p.m.