Castleton, VT - Senior Nicole Adams scored seven goals and had one assist to lead second-seeded Castleton to a 15-12 win over the third seed, Westfield State in New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance semifinal action Wednesday afternoon.

Castleton raced out to a 5-0 lead over the first six minutes of play as Marie VanDerKar scored three times to lead the surge. Westfield State answered with goals from Kasey Rogers, Rachel Dionne and Jen Lyon to cut the lead to 5-3 with 15:42 remaining in the half. After a goal by Castleton's Aimee Goulette made it 6-3, Dionne sandwiched a goal from Adams and Ally Brown tallied inside of five minutes to play to make it 7-6 at halftime.

Castleton used an early Owl yellow card to score three quick extra-player goals to make it 10-6 a little less than two minutes into the second half. Adams scored twice and Elizabeth Haggerty added one to give Castleton some breathing room.

Westfield State once again answered the run and the Owls found themselves down 12-11 after a Brown goal with 12:30 remaining. A Castleton yellow card gave the Owls the extra-player opportunity and an eight-meter free position attempt with 9:33 remaining in the contest. Castleton goalie, Fransesca Mazzola stopped three-straight shots on net to preserve the lead, and the Spartans killed off the penalty successfully. VanDerKar, Adams and Stephanie Pearce each scored goals in succession to put the game out of reach.

VanDerKar followed Adams in the scoring column with four goals, while Pearce added two goals and two assists.

Dionne led the Owls with five goals and one assist, while Rogers and Brown each had two goals. Laura Chiricosta added one goal and two assists. Kaity Burns stopped six shots in the loss as Westfield State falls to 11-6 on the season.

Castleton advances to its second-straight NEWLA Final, and ups its season record to a program-best 13-2. Mazzola stopped 10 shots in the win. The Spartans will face top-seed Bridgewater State Saturdat at 12:00 noon in Bridgewater.