CASTLETON, Vt. - Junior attacker Madison Ratchford (Ridge, N.Y.) racked up a game-high five goals to lead the Western Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team to a 17-6 victory at Vermont State University Castleton in the regular season finale for both squads on Friday evening. With the win, the Wolves claimed the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the upcoming Little East Conference Championship Tournament slated to begin next week. 

Junior Faye Junge (Centerport, N.Y.) and sophomore Isabella Pota (East Meadow, N.Y) each chipped in with hat tricks for WestConn, while senior Savannah Kom (Danbury, Conn.) added two goals and two assists. Brianna Paul led the Spartans with three scoring strikes.

The visitors controlled the majority of play as they outshot the hosts by a 40-18 cushion. They also edged out Castleton in the draw control and ground ball battles.

WestConn jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on goals from Ratchford, Kom and sophomore Morgan Brace (Brewster, N.Y.). However, the Spartans countered with a trio of their own to even the count at 3-3 heading into the second quarter.

The Wolves answered with a 5-1 run in the stanza to snag an 8-4 halftime advantage. Junge got the flurry started with a pair before Pota netted a power play tally for her 37th marker of the season, rounding out the spurt. It didn't stop there as WestConn poured it on in the third quarter, widening the gap to 15-5. Ratchford concluded the scoring in the fourth with her team-leading 59th goal of the year.

With the win, WestConn improved to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in league play. Their lone LEC loss of the season was an 11-10 loss to top-seed Plymouth State. Castleton dropped to 5-12 and 2-6. The Wolves will await the final pairings and see who they matchup against at the WAC on Thursday's semifinals.