PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Despite a hat trick from sophomore midfielder Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.), the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team was edged at Plymouth State University, 10-9, in overtime on Friday night. It marked the Little East Conference opener for both teams in a game that was moved up in the schedule due to inclement weather predicted for Saturday.

Junior attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) added two goals and one assist for the Wolves, while graduate student Tyler Starrett (Redding, Conn.) added two goals nearing the end of regulation to force the extra session.

The visitors jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. Duque drew first blood with a man-up marker off a feed from rookie attackman Cody Suhr (Holbrook, N.Y.) to get things started. Shortly thereafter, Suhr tickled the twine for his 12th goal of the campaign to finish off the spurt.

However, the hosts responded with a flurry of their own to seize a 6-4 lead at halftime. WestConn answered with a three-goal run. Duque and McMahon each found the back of the net for unassisted tallies, giving the Wolves a 7-6 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The Panthers put together a furious rally and regained at 9-7 lead with 1:30 left in the stanza. However, Starrett countered for WestConn, racking up a pair of goals to send the game into overtime. After winning the opening overtime faceoff, the Wolves had a chance to seize the win but their shot sailed wide. Moments later, Plymouth came around from the back of the cage and ripped a shot into the top corner of the twine to escape with the win.

With the loss, the Wolves dropped to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Panthers improved to 6-3 and 1-0. WestConn will look to rebound when they square up against Connecticut College on in a road matchup on Tuesday.