Western Connecticut State University

DANBURY, Conn. - Despite holding a 7-1 lead with two minutes remaining in the second quarter, the top-seeded Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team fell victim to a tremendous rally from second-seeded Massachusetts Maritime and eventually fell, 13-10, in the Little East Conference Championship at the Westside Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon. It snapped the Wolves' 19-game conference win streak, while the Bucanneers earned the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Senior midfielder Tristan McMahon (Farmingville, N.Y.) paced the hosts with two goals and three assists, while junior middie Sam Rosa (Trumbull, Conn.) tacked on a pair of goals and one helper. James Sullivan led the visitors with a game-high four goals while dishing out two assists. Daniel Kane found the net twice and also dished out a pair. 

WestConn dominated first quarter play as they outshot the Bucs 17-5 in the stanza. Rosa got things started when he skipped a blast off the turf into the top corner. Moments later, the Wolves' ride forced a turnover and rookie attack Thomas Keegan (Lake Grove, N.Y.) found McMahon all alone, who used a fake and tucked the ball into the twine, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Wolves continued to pile it on and seemed destined for yet another LEC crown. Senior long pole Tyler Moeller (Rocky Point, N.Y) earned his first assist of the season when he sprinted into the box and fed McMahon down low. He then turned and ripped a rocket into the back of the net to make it 4-1. Shortly thereafter, Rosa found graduate student attack Michael Zapatka (Newington, Conn.) who launched the rock past the Bucs' netminder, widening the gap to 7-1 with 2:12 to go until halftime. The tide started to turn just one minute later. Kane scored the next two goals within 40 seconds, slicing the advantage to 7-3 at the break.

Mass-Maritime would not let up in the third as they outscored WestConn, 4-0, to complete part of an eight-goal run that carried into the fourth quarter. Sullivan rounded out the barrage with an unassisted tally, putting the visitors up 9-7 with 13 minutes to play. WestConn cut it to a one-goal deficit on two occasions before the visitors connected on three of the final four scoring markers. Quinn Mucha notched a man-up tally to make it 12-9 midway through the period. Sullivan then sealed the comeback as he weaved past a pair of defenders along with WestConn sophomore Jake Kelly (Bethpage, N.Y.) - who was forced to leave the cage - to toss the ball into the open net. Kelly finished with 12 saves, while Bucs netminder Nicholas Hall recorded 17 to earn the win. 

With the loss, the Wolves wrapped up the season at 15-4 overall, while Mass-Maritime improved to 15-2. It marked the sixth LEC title game for WestConn. They are now 3-3 in those games. The Bucanneers advance and await their next opponent in the NCAA Tournament.