DANBURY, Conn. - Sophomore midfielder Nathan Caldwell (Cranford, N.J.) gained possession of the ball, raced downfield and fired home the game-winning shot with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team to a thrilling 18-17 victory over visiting Little East Conference foe Keene State College on Tuesday night at the Westside Athletic Complex.

The Owls won the ensuing faceoff and had a chance to score. However, their shot was blocked by a defender before it reached Wolves junior goalkeeper Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.). Grove notched a handful of stellar stops en route to his 18-save performance. 

Senior attacker Trey Aronow (Holbrook, N.Y.) paced the hosts with four goals and two assists, while reigning LEC Rookie of the Week Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.) chipped in with four scoring strikes and one helper. Sophomore attacker Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) added four goals including his team-leading 50th of the campaign. Senior faceoff specialist Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) battled hard all night long at the X, winning 20-of-39 to go along with a game-high 13 ground balls.

Junior attacker Andrew Miller (East Longmeadow, Mass.) led the Owls with four goals and two assists. Senior attackman Cooper Cioffi (St. Albans, Vt.) recorded four goals of his own, while junior midfielder Colby Quiet (Hopkinton, N.H.) contributed a hat trick and two helpers. 

The visitors seized the momentum early as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. However, the Wolves rallied to knot the count at 4-4 when sophomore midfielder Matt Sweeney (Rocky Point, N.Y.) tallied back-to-back goals. 

The teams exchanged blows throughout the second quarter. The Owls took a narrow 10-9 lead into halftime when Cioffi took a feed from Quiet and ripped home a man-up goal.

The furious action continued in the third. Keene appeared to be pulling away make it 12-10. But the Wolves retaliated with a four-goal spurt to capture a 14-12 advantage. McMahon wrapped up the run with his 26th marker of the season with the man advantage after taking a nifty pass from Aronow. 

The visitors evened things up at 15-15 early in the fourth before Duque notched his 50th and McMahon whipped a highlight reel behind-the-back shot into the top corner of the twine, extending the WestConn lead to 17-15 with 5:31 remaining. However, the Owls would not go away. They tallied two goals in 12 seconds when Cioffi and Miller each found the back of the net, once again, deadlocking the score at 17-17 with 1:47 left. Shortly thereafter, Caldwell opted to shoot the ball into the net on a fast break, sending the Wolves crowd into a frenzy. 

With the victory, WestConn improved to 12-4 overall and 6-1 in league play, while Keene State suffered its first conference loss, falling to 8-5 and 6-1. The Wolves return to action for Senior Night when they host LEC opponent Salem State on Friday at 5 p.m. The LEC Postseason Tournament is slated to begin next week.