DANBURY, Conn. – A lack of consistency continues to plague a young Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team, which, for the second time this year, followed an encouraging home victory with an emphatic road loss several days later.

Coming off a dramatic three-goal Little East Conference win over Plymouth State University Saturday at Rick McCarthy Field – their second LEC in in there tries -- the Warriors were outscored 10-2 over the first 22 minutes and were soundly beaten by early-season LEC unbeaten Western Connecticut State University, 18-8, Tuesday evening at the Westside Athletic Complex.

Since beating Western (10-1, 3-0 LEC) 17 straight times in the first 13 years of the series, Eastern (4-7, 2-2 LEC) has dropped the last five. The ten-goal loss Tuesday was by far the most convincing one among the five losses, with the first four coming by a total of just ten goals.

Early in the season, Eastern had survived a back-and-forth verdict at home in a 16-15 home win against the University of Saint Joseph but could not carry that momentum on the road two days later, when they were routed by Skidmore College, 19-1.

Eastern's 1-5 road record this year can be attributed in large part to a roster overflowing with youth (25 of 35 players either in their first or second seasons in the program), with several key pieces gone from a year ago. Western, which has developed into an LEC contender the last several years, were coming off a berth in the 2021 LEC championship game, where they lost by one goal to UMass Boston days after eliminating perennial LEC champion Keene State College by the same margin.

The  win is the sixth straight for WestConn, which received votes in the most recent USILA national poll.

Junior Benjamin Hawthorne paced Western with 10 points on six goals and four assists. Rookie attack Julian Duque added six goals of his own, while classmate Ryan Baudo chipped in with a scoring strike and three helpers.

Sophomore midfielder Andrew Pendagast (Southbury) and first-year attackmen  Brycen Kennedy (Southington) and Quinn O'Connor (Glastonbury) each netted a pair of goals to lead the Warriors. First-semester transfer Sam Davies (Newington) and junior Nick Collazo (Park Ridge, NJ) combined for 11 saves for Eastern and each allowed nine goals. Davies, coming off his first career win against Plymouth, faced a 21-shot onslaught in the first quarter Tuesday and departed on the short end of a 9-2 score.

First-year faceoff man Rick O'Neal (East Hartford) took 16 faceoffs – one shy of his season-high --- and won seven times for the Warriors. Junior defenseman Ryan Stocks (Longmeadow, MA) was credited with five of the team's 18 ground balls

Eastern hosts Castleton University (1-10, 1-2 LEC)  Saturday at 1 p.m. Last year, the Warriors avenged their only loss in the four-match series (11-10 in overtime in 2019) with an 11-2 decision at Rick McCarthy Field.  The Spartans ended a nine-game opening skid three days ago with a 24-16 LEC win over Salem State University before a 21-4 LEC home loss to Keene State tonight. The Spartans were 0-12 last year, 0-5 in the LEC.