DANBURY, Conn. - The Western Connecticut State University Wolves were shocked by the visiting Plymouth State University Panthers in the semifinal round of the Little East Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament at Westside Athletic Complex this afternoon.  WestConn, seeded No. 1 in the tournament field, finishes its season at 12-6 suffering its first loss in eight games and its first to a conference team this spring.  No. 4-seeded Plymouth State improves to 12-6 and advances to the LEC Finals on Saturday at either Eastern Connecticut or Keene State.  Wolves sophomore Madison Ratchford (Ridge, N.Y.) scored a game-high four goals and senior goalkeeper Molly Bresnahan (Noank, Conn.) made 12 saves in a losing effort.

Plymouth came out strong, particularly on the draw, winning 14 of 16 draw controls ijn the first half to help them build an 8-6 lead after two quarters.  Jenna Stowell and Hulia Donovan scored for Plymouth State in the first 3:30 before Ratchford scored the first WestConn goal off a feed by freshman Isabella Pota (East Meadow, N.Y.) with 8:40 on the clock.  Plymouth State scored three of the next four to lead, 5-2, at the first break, but Wolves seniors Alexa Riggio (North Massapequa, N.Y.) and Vicky Gracy (Bethel, Conn.) scored early in the second frame to cut the home team's deficit to one at 5-4.  The Panthers answered with a 3-0 run, however, and led, 8-4, with 9:10 left in the second quarter.  Ratchford scored twice, including once on the second assist of the first half by WestConn senior Colleen Crotty (Peabody, Mass.) to make it, 8-6, at intermission.

The Panthers got the momentum back in the third quarter, as Donovan scored just 1:02 after halftime and the visitors scored four more times before Crotty broke a 19:08 scoring drought for WestConn with a goal at the 11:44 mark of the fourth.  Bresnahan made three saves over the next seven minutes to keep the score at 13-7, and Gracy fed Ratchford for the game's final goal with 4:17 on the clock.  Freshman Kaitlyn Biase (Nesconset, N.Y.) caused a turnover moments later to give the Wolves possession but Margie Black made two of her 10 saves in the final three minutes to preserve the win for Plymouth State.

WestConn finished with a 13-to-9 edge on ground balls and forced 10 turnovers while committing seven but came up empty on seven free-position shots.  Plymouth State outshot the Wolves, 32-28, won 21 of 25 draws, and scored on seven of nine free-position shots. Crotty and Gracy reach finished with a goal and two assists, while Ratchford scooped three ground balls to go with her four goals, and Biase notched three caused turnovers.  Donovan, Elle Moshier, and Amelia Thomas scored three times each for the Panthers.  Stowell scored twice with 11 draw controls and teammate Megan Gaspa collected a goal, three ground balls, a caused turnover, and four draw controls.