THE BASICS: Score: Wesleyan 17, Tufts 8 Records: Wesleyan (19-1); Tufts (13-6) Location: Middletown, Conn. (Jackson Field) Date: Saturday, May 13 Time: 1 p.m. The Lead: For the third time this season, the No. 4 Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team defeated No. 12 Tufts University as the Cardinals cruised to a 17-8 win over the Jumbos Saturday in the third round of the 2017 NCAA Division III Championships. Harry Stanton '18 scored seven goals to lead Wesleyan, while also setting a single-season program record. He now has 77 goals through 20 games, surpassing the old mark of 73 set by John Landay '01 during the 2001 season. Landay scored 73 goals in 20 games as well. FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS: Wesleyan came out hot to start the game and scored the first four goals. Stanton scored three of the four, with the first occurring at the 13:11 mark and the third goal with 5:53 to play in the first. Michael Mattson ended the run with the Jumbos' first goal of the game at the 1:43 mark as they took advantage of a man-up opportunity. Ahead 4-1 entering the second quarter, Stanton quickly increased the Cardinals' lead to five following back-to-back unassisted scores at the 14:50 and 13:56 marks. Tufts went on a 3-0 run in just over two minutes of play to cut the deficit to two with 11:13 remaining in the half. However, the home team responded with a run of its own and scored the final four goals of the half, including three from Carter Hawthorne '19, as Wesleyan held a commanding 10-4 lead at the break. Stanton scored five goals in the first 30 minutes of action to lead all players, while Mattson and Danny Murphy led Tufts with two points each. SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS: The Cardinals scored the first two goals of the second half to increase their lead to eight, 12-4. Tufts responded with two man-up goals to get within six once again, however, Tom Dupont '17 received a pass from Stanton and found the back of the net with :38 on the clock to give Wesleyan a 13-6 lead entering the fourth quarter. Hawthorne recorded two more assists in the final 15 minutes of play as a goal by Dupont with 8:40 to play in regulation essentially put the game out of reach as the home team took a 15-6 lead. Murphy and Stanton exchanged two goals each down the stretch as Wesleyan prevailed with a decisive nine-goal victory. INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Stanton finished with a game-high eight points on seven goals and one assist. The seven goals are the second-most by the junior this season. In the first meeting against Tufts, he tied a program record with eight goals and added two assists. In three meetings against this Jumbos this year, he has 24 points on 19 goals and five assists. The sophomore attack also led all players with five caused turnovers Saturday, and added four ground balls as he did a little bit of everything. Hawthorne and Dupont each finished with three goals, while Hawthorne and Christian Barker '19 led the Cardinals with two assists each. Zach Zavalick '20 picked up a team-high five ground balls and was 15-of-28 on face-offs, while senior goalie Ted Bergman was terrific in net and finished with 13 saves. Tufts' offense was led by Murphy and Mattson with three and two goals, respectively. Murphy added three assists as well, while Mattson registered one. Tucker Mathers pulled in a game-high eight ground balls and Connor Lansdale caused three turnovers. BEYOND THE BOX SCORE: The Cardinals improve to 8-4 all-time in the national postseason, and have advanced to the quarterfinals in all five appearances. Wesleyan won all three matchups against Tufts this season, and is now 28-26 all-time against the Jumbos. After knocking them out of the NESCAC Championship and ending their seven-straight title run last Saturday, the Cardinals ended Tufts' run of three-consecutive NCAA Finals appearances a week later. Wesleyan has now won a program record 19-straight games. UP NEXT: The Cardinals will play No. 3 Bates College (16-1) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 17 with a time to be determined. Wesleyan and Bates met in the 2017 season-opener, with the Bobcats edging the Cardinals 15-14 at home.