DAVENPORT, Fla. - Despite hat tricks from sophomore Alex Burbank (Newtown, Conn.) and junior Cody Suhr (Holbrook, N.Y.), the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team fell victim to a fourth quarter comeback from Vassar College, falling 15-14 in a non-league contest to begin their spring trip in Florida on Saturday afternoon. Nate Johnson scored with 50 seconds remaining to complete the rally for the visitors. 

Both teams finished deadlocked in shots, 38-38. However, the Brewers contolled the ground game, winning 20-of-32 face-off attempts while notching 38 ground balls. WestConn finished with 23 scoops off the field. 

The Wolves tallied a trio of markers to begin the contest. Senior midfield/attack player Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.) assisted on two of the scoring strikes. Vassar would trim it to a 3-2 deficit heading into the second stanza.

Suhr connected with the twine early in the quarter before Vassar rallied with a five-goal run to earn a 7-4 lead. Drew Mazzocco ignited the spurt before notching yet another goal to put the finishing touches on the flurry. But WestConn answered with three straight to even the count at 7-7 at the break. Rookie attack Thomas Keegan (Lake Grove, N.Y.) canned his second strike of the game to round out the run.

The Wolves scored four of five goals to start the third. Suhr opened the scoring before McMahon found the back of the net, giving WestConn an 11-8 lead. Shortly thereafter, Burbank would tally his second, setting up a 12-10 WestConn lead heading into the fourth.

However, the Brewers reeled off another run. This time a 4-0 burst put them ahead 14-12 with 6:08 left to play. The Wolves countered with a pair to even the count up at 14-14 when sophomore middie Sawyer DeSeve (Sea Cliff, N.J.) netted the equalizer with 2:27 to go. But Vassar won the ensuing face-off and had several shots at the game-winner before Johnson eventually scored the go-ahead marker. 

WestConn sophomore Jake Kelly (Bethpage, N.Y.) finished with nine saves while Jess Geoghagan recorded 14 for the Brewers. With the loss, the Wolves fell to 4-4 overall while Vassar improved to 4-4. WestConn has a couple days to regroup before meeting up with non-conference foe Farmingdale State College to wrap up the trip on Tuesday at Noon.