DANBURY, Conn. - Sophomore attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) tallied four goals while senior Trey Aronow (Holbrook, N.Y.) added a hat trick and two assists to lift the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team to a season opening 12-11 victory over visiting non-conference foe Maritime College on Thursday evening at the Westside Athletic Complex.

Senior Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.) and rookie Tristan McMahon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) each chipped in with one goal and two assists. Senior faceoff specialist Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) won 15-fo-26 draws and scooped up a game-high nine ground balls. 

Sophomore attackman Parker Reilly (West Islip, N.Y.) paced the Privateers with four goals while senior midfielder Patrick Schnell (Jericho, N.Y.) added a pair.

It looked like the Wolves were going to run away with the game in the early going as they jumped out to a 6-1 advantage. Duque notched the first goal of the season off a feed from McMahon less than two minutes into the contest. Aronow rounded out the run with his second tally of the barrage. 

However, Maritime rallied and shrank the gap to 7-5 when junior attackman Sean Foley (Long Beach, N.Y.) found the back of the net just before haltime.

The visitors tied the score at 7-7 in the third before again coming up with an equalizer to make it 8-8. WestConn would not give up the lead as Duque tickled the twine for his fourth goal of the game late in the stanza, giving WestConn a 12-10 lead heading into the final quarter. 

Reilly sliced it to 12-11 with his fourth goal early in the fourth. But the Wolves turned up the defensive intensity and Duque forced a late turnover on the ride to propel them to the win. 

Both goalies were equally impressive between the pipes. Junior Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.) recorded 13 saves for WestConn, while junior Jack Daresta (Massapequa, N.Y) notched 10 for Maritime.

The Wolves return to action when they host non-league opponent Russell Sage on Saturday at 1 p.m.