CASTLETON, Vt. – Kealy Chipman (Bellows Falls, Vt.) registered her fourth hat trick of the season, and the Spartans withstood a late-game charge as Castleton State College defeated Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 4-3 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) field hockey action Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

With the top seed in the upcoming NAC  tournament hanging in the balance, and both teams toting identical 7-0 NAC records, the game had must-win feel from the opening whistle.

Chipman put the Spartans on the board at the 1:28 mark, converting a Rachel Preusser (Craryville, N.Y.) assist into her 16th goal of the season for the early 1-0 lead. Preusser carried the ball down the left side before making a centering pass to Chipman who deposited it just inside the far post.

Castleton nearly made it 2-0 with 20 minutes left in the first half, but a pair of fantastic saves by Meaghan Johnson (Portland, Maine) kept the Monks within striking distance. Johnson knocked a Preusser attempt away with her blocker, before recovering in time to make a perfect stick-save of Shawna Pinsonault's (Brownsville, Vt.) attempt on the rebound.

Chipman pushed the lead to 2-0 with 21:32 remaining in the contest, following up on three-straight saves by Johnson. Brynn Cayia (Berlin, Vt.) took the initial shot off a Castleton penalty corner, that Chipman misdirected and Johnson turned away. Mercedes Maltbie (Warrensburg, N.Y.) and Blake Wardwell (Bridgewater, Vt.) saw their attempts likewise turned away by Johnson, but Chipman made the fourth attempt stick.

Chipman finished off the trick with 16:46 remaining, blasting home a hard cross from Maltbie.

The Monks had back-to-back penalty corners with 15:30 remaining, but could not get a shot on the cage, and Castleton regained the advantage. Four minutes later, Preusser put home her 18th of the season to push the lead to 4-0. What seemed to be an insurance marker on a nifty give-and-go between Preusser and Cayia, proved to be the game-winner as the Monks answered with three-straight goals.

Peyton Dostie (Standish, Maine) put the Monks on the board with less than eight minutes remaining, pouncing on a loose ball in the circle after a pass into the striking circle was redirected off Castleton goalie Bridget Dusha (Greenwich, N.Y.).

Seven minutes later T.J. Cowin (Newry, Maine) scored her 13th of the season, one-timing home a Melanie Allen (Jackson, N.H.) centering pass.

Renee Leach (Springvale, Maine) finished off the St. Joseph's scoring, converting a Cowin assist. The goal came with no time remaining as the Monks played out a penalty corner and Leach was able to stuff home a Cowin blast on the far post.

Johnson finished with nine saves in the loss, while Castleton's Dusha stopped one.

The win gives Castleton a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play, while improving to 10-7 overall. Not only did the eighth win set a new high-water mark for the program, Castleton has assured itself of the top seed entering the tournament.

St. Joseph's falls to 9-5, 7-1 and will wrap up its conference slate at Colby-Sawyer tomorrow at 1 pm.

Castleton will host Husson tomorrow at 1 pm in search of its first undefeated conference season in program history. In addition, the game will be played as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Castleton will be selling purple t-shirts and sponsoring a 50/50 raffle to benefit the American Cancer Society. The Spartans will be wearing purple uniforms for the game while Husson is participating by wearing purple t-shirts during pre-game warm ups.