HENNIKER, N.H. - Sophomore attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) tallied a game-high four goals to go along with one assist, while senior Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.) chipped in with two goals and three helpers to lead the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team to a 17-9 victory at New England College in the first round of the NCAA Championship Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Don Melander Field. 

With the win, the Wolves advanced to the second round where they will square up against two-time defending champion Rochester Institute of Technology. The Tigers earned a first round bye and will host the contest on Saturday at Noon.

The visitors came out on fire, erupting for eight scoring strikes in the first quarter, before adding another four in the second to seize a 12-0 lead at halftime.

Sophomore midfielder Matt Sweeney (Rocky Point, N.Y.) drew first blood when he took a feed from Duque and buried a shot into the twine less than three minutes into the game. Duque followed it up from a nifty pass from Hawthorne to round out the opening first stanza flurry, giving WestConn an 8-0 lead.

The Wolves continued to pile it on in the second. Senior long stick defender Chris Comizio (Danbury, Conn.) got in on the action when he raced downfield and fired home a shot to make it 12-0 with eight seconds before the break.

Thomas Norton and Devon Saeger each netted a pair of goals for NEC in the second half, but it was to little too late. Duque canned his team-leading 68th goal of the campaign before senior middie Jesse Weaver (Highland, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring with 1:02 left on the clock.

WestConn outshot the hosts by a whopping 56-24 margin, while also holding a commanding edge in ground balls, 56-34. Senior Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) dominated the faceoffs, racking up 16-of-19 draws. 

With the win, the Wolves improved to 16-4 overall. They will look to prevent RIT from three-peating as national champions on Saturday.