COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - Graduate student attack Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.) tallied two goals and three assists but the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse squad was edged at non-league foe Ursinus College, 10-9, in its season opener on Wednesday evening. 

Classmate midfielder Tyler Starrett (Redding, Conn.) and rookie attack Cody Suhr (Holbrook, N.Y.) chipped in with two goals apiece for the Wolves. 

Aidan Kurk led the Bears with a hat trick, while seven other players pierced the scoring column for the winners. 

Despite connecting on 2-of-5 man-up opportunities, WestConn coughed the ball up 19 times. The hosts held a slight edge in shots, ground balls and face-offs, while committing just 10 turnovers. 

Suhr netted his first career goal to draw first blood for the Wolves. Moments later, Hawthorne canned his first goal of the season to get things started for WestConn. They would hold a 3-1 advantage to conclude the opening quarter.

However, the Bears reeled off a five-goal run which began in the second and carried into the third stanza, capturing a 6-3 lead. Then it was WestConn's turn as they retaliated with a five-goal spurt of their own. Junior midfielder Peter Traina (East Moriches, N.Y.) began the barrage with 8:31 remaining in the third. Starrett capped the flurry with 12:07 left in regulation, giving the Wolves the lead back, 8-6. 

The visitors would hold a 9-7 edge with just under four minutes left to play. However, the Bears came up with a trio of goals in the waning minutes to escape with the win. Down a man, Eddie Newman found the back of the net with 3:32 to go. Shortly thereafter, Kirk netted his second and third goals on the afternoon to cement it. 

Senior goalkeeper Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.) finished with 15 saves for the visitors, while Jonathan Singer turned aside 12 WestConn shots. 

With the loss, the Wolves dropped to 0-1 overall, while Ursinus improved to 1-1. WestConn will look to rebound when they square off against Arcadia University on Saturday at Noon at Stony Brook University.