Springfield, Mass. – Castleton field hockey team scored twice in the opening 10:19 and held off a late Springfield charge to earn a 4-2 victory on a rainy Thursday evening at Stagg Field.

The non-conference victory pushes the Spartans record to 7-2, while the Pride drop below .500 to 5-6.

Springfield held an 11-8 edge in shots for the game and a commanding 16-4 advantage in penalty corners. However, the visitors made the most of their offensive chances, scoring on half of their shots for the evening. Timarie Villa made three saves in goal, while Castleton's Jessica Galatioto (Queensbury, N.Y.) posted six stops.

Leading the way for the Spartans was Kealy Chipman (Bellows Falls, Vt.), who tallied two goals and an assist in the win. Blake Wardwell (Bridgewater, Vt.) also added a goal and an assist. MK Murray factored in on both of the Pride's goals, finishing with a goal and a helper.

Wardwell opened up the game's scoring just 6:05 into the contest. After an initial centering pass from Rachel Preusser (Craryville, N.Y.), Chipman flicked a pass along the goal line to a wide-open Wardwell. Wardell made no mistake slotting a shot home on the right post to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.

The Spartans tacked on their second marker at the 10:19 mark. Preusser was credited with the assist after delivering a penalty corner to the top of the circle to Kristy Pinkham (Brandon, Vt.). Pinkham took a pair of touches before ripping a shot into the left hand side of the cage.

Castleton added to their lead 7:20 into the second on Chipman's first strike, for what would prove to be the game winner. She added another insurance goal with 20:16 left in regulation, giving the Spartans a commanding 4-0 lead.

Springfield made a late push as Murray cleaned up a scramble in front at the 59:42 mark, giving the hosts a spark. Just 2:09 later, Libby Hart made the most of a Springfield corner, taking a pass from Murray before finding the back of the cage. However, the Pride was unable to complete its comeback and the Spartans held on for the 4-2 victory.

Castleton returns to action on Saturday when the team travels to face Rivier at 1 pm.