FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - After a pair of wins during their Florida trip, the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team returned North but suffered its first loss of the season at non-league foe Farmingdale State, 11-6, on Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) netted two goals to lead the Wolves, while reigning Little East Conference Rookie of the Week Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.) returned home to Long Island and tallied his 11th goal of the campaign. 

The box score was evenly matched and seemed to point toward a Wolves win. However, the Rams managed to rack up a higher shooting percentage. WestConn outshot the hosts by a 37-34 margin. They also notched the advantage in ground balls, 36-31. Furthermore, senior face off specialist Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) won 13-of-21 attempts for the Wolves.

Farmingdale broke the ice when Kyle Kolano scored the first of his three goals on the day. McMahon countered with an unassisted tally before the hosts wrapped up the opening quarter with a 5-3 lead.

Kolano completed his hat trick to start the second quarter. WestConn senior midfielder Stephen Cicchetti (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) answered with a scoring strike, cutting the deficit to 6-4 at the break.

The Rams racked up three goals in the third while holding the Wolves to one, widening the gap to 9-4. The visitors cut it to 9-6 early in the fourth when senior attackman Donald Schaumloffel (Wantagh, N.Y.) found the back of the net, good for his fourth of the year. But they couldn't get any closer. Farmingdale struck for the final two scores, sealing the 11-6 win.

Senior goalkeeper Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.) recorded nine saves for the Wolves, while Dan Erler notched 11 for the Rams. 

With the loss, WestConn dropped to 6-1 overall while the winners improved to 7-1. The Wolves will look to rebound when they open the LEC slate at Castleton University on Saturday at 2 p.m.