DANBURY, Conn. - Despite hat tricks from graduate student Tyler Starrett (Redding, Conn.) and sophomore Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.), the top-seeded Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team fell to visiting third-seeded Plymouth State University, 16-10, in the Little East Conference Championship contest on Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex.

McMahon also dished out an assist to earn a team-high four points on the day. Junior attackman Julian Duque (Mastic, N.Y.) contributed two goals, while graduate student Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y.) and rookie Cody Suhr (Holbrook, N.Y.) each tallied a goal and two assists. Graduate student faceoff specialist Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) scooped up a game-high 12 groundballs.

Graduate student midfielder Alex Hawkom (Manchester, N.H.) netted a game-high four goals to lead the Panthers and earn the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Juniors Ryan Collins (Attleboro, Mass.) and Ryan Jones (Tolland, Conn.) each chipped in with three goals and one assist. Senior goalie Owen McNichols (Manchester, N.H.) made several spectacular stops en route to his 12-save performance.

The Wolves came out on fire to seize an early 3-1 lead. Starrett drew first blood before McMahon flipped a shot into the twine while being hauled to the ground. But the visitors quickly responded with a 4-0 run to pull ahead 5-3 late in the opening quarter. Duque canned his team-leading 58th marker of the season slicing it to a one-goal deficit heading into the second.

However, the Panthers put together yet another four-goal spurt while holding the Wolves without a tally in the period, heading into halftime with an 8-4 lead. Plymouth widened the gap to 11-5 midway thru the third before WestConn started to chip away at the advantage. They connected on four of the ensuing five goals to shrink it to a 12-9 Plymouth lead. The teams exchanged goals with McMahon firing home his 31st of the season to make it 13-10 early in the fourth. But the Wolves couldn't get any closer as the visitors finished the game with three straight tallies.

With the loss, WestConn's season came to a close with a record of 13-5, while Plymouth State improved to 15-4 and claimed the automatic berth to the NCAA Championship Tournament.