CASTLETON, Vt. – The fourth-seeded Castleton State College field hockey game scored three goals in the first 10 minutes of play and cruised to an 8-0 win over fifth-seeded Thomas College in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Quarterfinal action Saturday evening at Spartan Stadium.

Mercedes Maltbie (Warrensburg, N.Y.) put the Spartans on the board just over five minutes into the contest, converting a long shot off a rebound. Maltbie pushed the score to 2-0 three minutes later, scoring off a Sarah Flore (Springfield, Vt.) assist.

The Castleton onslaught continued two minutes later as Courtney Nolan (Spring Lake Hieghts, N.J.) played a ball into the striking circle that Kealy Chipman (Bellows Falls, Vt.) one timed home.

Flore made it 4-0 before halftime, working a nifty give-and-go with Chipman for her 14th marker of the season with 13 minutes remaining.

Castleton tacked on four more in the second half, including two from Blake Wardwell (Bridgewater, Vt.) and one each from Nolan and Chipman.

Megan Denby (Copiague, N.Y.) stopped 13 shots in the loss as Thomas wraps up its season at 5-11.

Siobhan Whittemore (Springfield, Vt.) made eight saves over the opening 51 minutes of play, giving way to Bridget Dusha (Greenwich, N.Y.) for the final 19 minutes and five saves.

The Spartans advance to the NAC Semifinal round, where top-seeded St. Joseph's (Me.) awaits. Castleton, who lost 3-2 to the Monks during the regular season will travel for the November 3 match-up at a time yet to be determined.