ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse season ended on Saturday with a 20-9 loss to two-time defending national champion Rochester Institute of Technology in the NCAA Division III national championships second round at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers will face the winner of Saturday's other second-round pairing of Williams College and Babson College on Sunday at 3 pm. with the winner moving onto the Elite Eight next weekend.

The Wolves, 16-5, raced out to a 2-0 advantage following unassisted goals from Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.) and Joseph Boss (Holbrook, N.Y.) with just 2:22 elapsed in the opening period.

Before the first stanza came to a close, the 19-1 Tigers took a 3-2  lead and never looked back. TJ Hendricks scored what proved to be the game-winning goal off a feed from Clifford Gaston with 2:15 remaining in the period.

WestConn senior Stephen Cicchetti Lindenhurst, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals in the second quarter, but by intermission, RIT increased its lead to 11-4.

The visitors would go on to score a pair of goals in each of the four quarters on Saturday.

Matt Sweeney (Rocky Point, N.Y.) and Donald Schaumloffel (Wantagh, N.Y.) registered goals in the third stanza, but the Wolves deficit grew to 11 goals, 17-6, heading into the final period.

Peter Traina (East Moriches, N.Y.) and McMahon were credited with goals, both following set-up passes from senior Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.), in the fourth quarter.

McMahon, despite suffering from lower-leg cramps in the second half, finished with a team-high three points as he assisted on Chcchetti's man-up goal with 3:37 left in the second period.

Luke Pilcher and Hendricks paced the winners with three goals each while Spencer Bell, Kaden Brunson, Seth Grottenthaler and Gaston all found the back of the net on two occasions.

Wolves junior goalie Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.) made nine saves before yielding to Nicholas Elarde (Lake Grove, N.Y.) for the final 22 minutes.  Elarde made a pair of stops in nearly a quarter and a half.

Will Sterrett made four saves for the Tigers over the first three stanza.  Kyle Gaffey matched the RIT starter with four stops in the final 15 minutes.

WestConn's men's lacrosse program set several program bests in 2023 including wins in a season (16) and games played (21).  Wednesday's 17-9 win over New England College was the first in program history and just second time the Wolves appeared in the NCAA tournament (2008).