CASTLETON, Vt. - Blake Wardwell (Bridgewater, Vt.) scored a pair of first half goals, and the Castleton field hockey team came with in 52 seconds of posting its first shutout of the season in a 3-1 win over Western New England University Sunday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

Wardwell wasted little time putting Castleton on the board, converting a loose ball in front of the cage into her second goal of the season just 39 seconds into the contest.

Caitlin Briggs (Germantown, N.Y.) made it 2-0 at the 7:06 mark, pouncing on a rebound off the pad of Western New England goalie Kaitlyn Hall (Pawtucket, R.I.) and potting her third goal of the season.

Wardwell made it 3-0 during the 17th minute of play once again corralling a loose ball in front of the cage, and slipping it past Hall.

Castleton continued to pressure Hall for the remainder of the opening half, but the junior net minder turned away seven shots to keep the Golden Bears within reach.

In the second half, the Spartans maintained control of the contest, but with just over 10 minutes remaining Western New England began to turn up the offensive pressure, testing back up goalie Jessica Galatioto (Queensbury, N.Y.). Galatioto turned away seven shots in a 12-minute span, but with 52 seconds remaining Jaynie Mueller (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finally broke through for the Golden Bears.

Starting goalie Bridget Dusha (Greenwish, N.Y.) made four saves over the opening 57 minutes of action for the Spartans, and Hall finished the afternoon with 10.

Castleton earns its first win of the season to improve to 1-4, while Western New England remains winless at 0-4. The Spartans return to action Thursday when they travel to Keene State for a 6 pm non-conference match up. Western New England hosts WPI on Tuesday at 7 pm.