PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Graduate student attack Michael Zapatka (Newington, Conn.) tallied a game-high five goals to lift the Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team to a 12-5 victory at Plymouth State in the Little East Conference regular season finale for both teams. The Wolves have now clinched the LEC regular season crown along with the top seed and a first round bye in the upcoming postseason championship tournament. They will host a semifinal matchup on Thursday.

Other key contributors in the WestConn victory included senior Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.) and juniors Sam Rosa (Trumbull, Conn.) and Michael Mrzyglod (Red Hook, N.Y.) who added two goals apiece. Hunter Richards paced the Panthers with a hat trick.

The Wolves jumped out to a 3-0 lead and would not look back. Richards connected on a pair to trim the Plymouth State deficit to 3-2 to wrap up the first quarter. WestConn countered with a trio of goals to head into halftime with a 6-2 advantage. Zaptaka completed the hat trick to earn his 21st marker of the season before the break.

WestConn added five goals in the third before opening the fourth with another scoring strike courtesy of a blast from Zapatka, upping the lead to 12-2. The Panthers would try to fight back and round out the scoring with a trio of scores to finish the game at 12-5. 

With the win, WestConn improved to 14-3 overall and 8-0 in league play, while Plymouth State fell to 7-8 and 3-5. WestConn will await the winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup before hosting the semifinal contest on Thursday.