Newton Centre, MA-The Castleton State College men's lacrosse team lost for the first time in four games 10-2 at Mount Ida College in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action. In a match-up of the last four conference finals, the Spartans struggled to find their offensive touch against the defending NAC champions.

Castleton allowed three first-period goals, as the Mustangs applied heavy pressure to the Spartan defense. Senior attack John Lightbown sent home the first two goals of the game, both unassisted, to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter. Matt Savage bounced in the third Mustang goal before the horn to give his squad the 3-0 advantage going into the second quarter.

After a Brett Conley goal made it 4-0 Mount Ida, Castleton's Michael Martinez broke through for a goal with 5:07 left in the half, making it a 4-1 halftime defecit.

Savage put the Mustangs on top 5-1 just 20 seconds into the third period, as Mount Ida scored six unanswered goals to start the second half and put the game out of reach. Lightbown, who tallied a game high four scores, netted two in the second half while freshman Dan Harrington and sophomore Dan Kelley added one a piece. Conley also provided his second goal of the game during the run.

The Spartans netted their final goal of the game with 1:40 remaining as senior defenseman, Jimmy VanDerKar worked a pretty give-and-go transition with Michael DelDotto for his third career goal.

Castleton netminder, Michael Mamunes was put to the test, facing 23 shots on goal, stopping 13 in the loss. Mount Ida's Matt Vernik stopped six in the win.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday, April 1 with a non-conference affair at Kean University.