Danbury, CT – The Montclair State University men's lacrosse team fell to Western Connecticut 14-9 on Wednesday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (1-1) jumped out early, as NICHOLI HALSE tallied a save in the opening minute, leading to a CODY COOPER goal on the next possession. The home side countered with back-to-back markers over the next two minutes to take the advantage. AIDAN MAXWELL and JOHN CRANK registered shots on frame shortly after, but the Wolves stood strong defensively and closed the stanza with two more goals to take a three-goal lead after the opening 15 minutes.
• Western Connecticut opened the second quarter with two goals in the opening three minutes, but the Red Hawks countered shortly after with a goal from Cooper and a strike from JULIAN VARONA off the ensuing faceoff. The home side made the score 7-3 at the nine minute, but Cooper struck again off a feed from MAX MOROSOFF to cut the deficit back to three. Halse notched three saves down the stretch of the half to keep the score at 7-4 going into the break.
• JACK CLEARY and Maxwell ripped shots on frame in the opening stages of the third quarter, but the home side pushed back with back-to-back goals approaching the eight minute mark. Montclair rattled off three more shots, but the Wolves answered with another goal to make the deficit six going into the final 15 minutes.
• Montclair rallied early in the final quarter, as Cleary and Crank each found the back of the net to make the score 10-6 approaching the 13 minute mark. The home side countered with a goal on the resulting faceoff, and then added another on the following possession to bring the margin back to six. Varona and Cooper scored two of the next three markers, but the Wolves added their final goal of the contest with just over two minutes remaining. Cooper finished off the contest with a strike, but Montclair could not get any closer the rest of the way.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Cooper led the way with a game-high five goals, setting a new career-high. It also notched his first career hat trick. Varona added two goals, marking his second multi-goal contest to open the campaign.
• Halse collected 13 saves in goal for Montclair on the afternoon.

FROM THE FIELD

"Unfortunately tonight we were just too inconsistent. We played well at times but didn't put together a good enough 60 minutes to pull out a win." - Head Coach Matt Poskay

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will travel to face New Paltz on Saturday, March 1, with the opening faceoff scheduled for 12:00 PM.