Newton Centre, MA-The Castleton State College men's lacrosse team came up short in the North Atlantic Conference championship game for the fifth-straight season, losing 16-9 to Mount Ida College.

Mustang freshman Matt Savage and senior John Lightbown combined for 11 goals to lead the way.

For the past five years, Mount Ida and Castleton have met in the championship, and every time the Mustangs claimed the victory. Castleton will go home after an outstanding year going 12-6, 6-1 in the conference, while Mount Ida will continue their season and venture into the NCAA Tournament with selection Sunday coming tomorrow.  They end the season with a 13-5 overall record, staying perfect at 7-0 in league play.

The hosts jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first four minutes of the first quarter on goals by Lightbown, Savage, and junior Criag Heintzelman. 

The Spartans countered on a score by freshman Michael DelDotto making it 3-1. Mount Ida tacked on another goal before the buzzer, making it 4-1 heading into the second period.

Castleton's DelDotto and Phil Barry netted back-to-back goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with just over eight minutes remainingin the half.

Lightbown answered with three unanswered goals of his own to stretch the lead to 7-3. Castleton tallied a quick unassisted score by sophomore Korey Counos with 33 seconds remaining before the horn making it 7-4.

Both teams battled back-and-forth over the final 30 minutes and the Mustangs got two quick goals from Savage while the visitors countered with three, two scores by sophomore Jake Rick and one by junior Devon Wood making it 9-7 hosts with 6:42 to go in the third.

Savage capped a 3-0 Mount Ida run to end the third period, making it 12-7 entering the final frame.

The Spartans scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter by Barry and sophomore Kirk Bolduc pulling within three goals. Mount Ida tallied the final four scores by Conley, Lightbown, Savage, and Shidler taking the 16-9 victory and their fifth consecutive NAC Championship.

Mount Ida goaltender sophomore Matt Vernik nothced 11 saves for his team while Spartans stopper junior Michael Mamunes tallied 13.

Tournament MVP, Mount Ida junior Craig Heintzelman controlled the face-off circle with 19-26 possessions along with the first goal of the contest.

ALL – TOURNAMENT TEAM
1st Place Team
Tournament MVP - Craig Heintzelman – Mount Ida
John Lightbown – Mount Ida
Matt Savage – Mount Ida
Dan Harrington – Mount Ida
Tom Watts – Mount Ida

2nd Place Team
Jake Rick – Castleton
Jimmy VanDerKar – Castleton
Michael DelDotto – Castleton

3rd Place Team
Mike Ross – Thomas
Josh Collelo – Thomas

4th Place Team
Phil McNerney – Maine Maritime
Clay Tolman – Maine Maritime