DANBURY, Conn. – The Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team turned a crucial Eastern Connecticut State University turnover into a clinching goal with 66 seconds left as the Colonials defeated the Warriors for the fourth consecutive season, 9-7, in a Little East Conference match Tuesday night at the Westside Athletic Complex.
 
After Eastern (4-3, 1-2) got early goals from sophomore Mitchell Bagcal (South Windsor) and senior Tyler Stein (Milford) to tie the match, the Warriors never trailed by more than two.
 
With Eastern trailing by two in the final minutes, freshman Camden Brown (Southington) ripped his 11^th goal of the season (second-most on the team) off a feed from freshman Zacharie Appolon (Stamford) to pull to within one for the fifth time. The Warriors lost the ensuing faceoff but freshman Domenic Scarano (Berlin) forced a turnover to give the team a chance at the equalizer, but Eastern gave it right back without getting off a shot and Western senior attack Eric Caldwell potted his game-high fourth goal of the game with 66 seconds left to all but seal the victory for Western (2-1, 2-1 LEC).
 
Stein had a goal and two assists and won ten of 15 faceoffs and now shows a .688 winning percentage. Freshman David Harrold (Southington) was 4-of-5 from the X to improve to .660. Brown was the only Eastern player with more than one goal, contributing two, while Appolon had two assists to give him a team-leading 11 this year.
 
Graduate goalie Jack Farrell (Stratford) stopped nine shots, four in the final quarter.
 
Since Eastern won the first 17 matches in the series, the Colonials have defeated Eastern the last four years by a combined total of ten goals.
 
Eastern hosts New England College Friday at 3 p.m. in a non-conference match.