Gorham, ME - Sophomore Marie VanDerKar scored four goals, including the game winner, as Castleton State College held on to defeat the University of Southern Maine, 12-11, Thursday afternoon in a non-conference women's lacrosse match at Hodgdon Field.

The win was the fourth straight for the Spartans who improve to 5-1 overall. The Huskies fall to 3-3. Supporting VanDerKar with three goals was sophomore Elizabeth Haggerty, and senior Nicole Adams tallied two. Junior Stephanie Pearce had a goal and three assists. Senior goalie Francesca Mazzola had an outstanding match making 17 saves.

Sophomore Jessica Martineau paced the Huskies with a team-high four goals. Junior Jessica Knight converted for three goals. Sophomore goalie Rachel Lolleyregistered 11 saves. Leading 8-5 at halftime, Castleton scored the first two goals of the second half by Pearce and Adams to increase the margin to five. Knight scored twice for USM before Spartan senior Katelyn Greene found the net with 15:30 remaining to push the lead to 11-7.

Southern Maine rallied for three straight goals by sophomore Kelsey Inzer, Knight and Martineau to pull within one with eight minutes left to play. VanDerKar netted what proved to be the game winner with 6:37 to play. Martineau scored with 1:25 to go to close the gap to one, but the Huskies were unable to get the equalizer in the final seconds.

Southern Maine opens Little East Conference play on Saturday at Western Connecticut State University. Castleton will host Thomas College in a North Atlantic Conference match on Saturday (2:00 p.m.).

Courtesy of: University of Southern Maine Sports Information