STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Junior attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) torched Arcadia University for a game-high five goals and one assist to lift the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team to its first victory of the season, 12-5, in a non-league contest played at Stony Brook University on Saturday afternoon. 

Graduate student attackman Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.) recorded his second consecutive five-point outing with a scoring strike and four assists, while classmate Tyler Starrett (Redding, Conn.) chipped in with a hat trick. Five different players netted goals for Arcadia.

The Wolves outshot their opponents by a 50-38 clip, while WestConn graduate student Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) won 11-of-19 faceoff attempts. 

Tristan Johnson netted the first goal of the game for the Knights less than three minutes into the contest. It would be their only lead of the game. WestConn answered with a four-goal spurt, seizing a 4-1 advantage to end the opening quarter. Rookie attackman Cody Suhr (Holbrook, N.Y.) began the barrage off a feed from Hawthorne. Duque tallied the ensuing three scores. 

Four different Wolves tickled the twine in the second quarter, extending the lead to 8-2 at halftime. Starrett found the back of the net to begin the third stanza, widening the gap to 9-2. The Wolves would coast the rest of the way. Duque rounded the scoring out at 12-5 when he took a pass from rookie Sam Rosa (Trumbull, Conn.) and connected.

WestConn senior goalkeeper Brendan Grove (Cheshire, Conn.) notched 12 saves in between the pipes to earn the win, while Joseph Tesler and Nathaniel Hudgins split time shielding the Arcadia goal and combined to stop 19 shots.

With the victory, the Wolves improved to 1-1 overall, while the Knights dropped to 1-2. WestConn will look to build on the momentum when they head to the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday at Noon.