Manchester, NH-The Castleton State College men's lacrosse battled through a back-and-forth contest for three quarters, but stumbled in the fourth as New England College defeated the Spartans 12-9.

The Spartans scored the first three goals of the game as Jake Rick, Robbie Scanlon, and Matt VanDerKar seemed to have the game well in hand early on. NEC would strike back and score five straight to take the lead. Castleton would strike back and the two teams would enter halftime knotted at 6-6.

The Pilgrims opened up the second half scoring with a goal just 1:24 in, but Castleton would answer, once again unleashing three straight goals. NEC would swing the momentum as the Pilgrims scored the final five goals of the game, blanking Castleton 4-0 in the fourth to take home the win.

Steve Gerding led the Spartan attack with two goals and two assists, while Rick, Scanlon and VanDerKar each tallied a pair of goals. Matt Varney also found the back of the goal for Castleton to round out the scoring.

NAC Player of the Week, Michael Mamunes stopped 11 shots in goal for the 1-2 Spartans. Nick Fisher made 10 saves to help the Pilgrims improve to 2-2 on the young season. Castleton is back in action on Saturday, March 31 when they travel to Maine Maritime Academy to open their North Atlantic Conference schedule.