Bangor, Maine – Second-seeded Castleton jumped out to a 5-0 halftime lead but had to withstand a late rally from No. 1 seed Husson before ultimately taking down the Eagles 8-6 to win the North Atlantic Conference Championship on Saturday evening in Bangor.

The Spartans seemed to have an answer every time Husson tried to mount a serious comeback, and never let the lead slip below two goals in the second half in earning the program's first NAC Championship since 2008.

Junior Rachel Preusser led the offense with a hat trick while Kealy Chipman and Blake Wardwell  each contributed two goals and one assist. Junior Stephanie Bardell was named the NAC Tournament MVP for her work on defense.

The Spartans opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the contest with Blake Wardwell scoring off a pass from Preusser. Chipman made 2-0 at the 10:37 mark with an assist from Wardwell. Preusser scored her first goal just under two minutes later off a pass from Kristy Pinkham.

Chipman pushed the Castleton advantage to 4-0 at 15:25, ripping a shot that deflected off a defender's stick and went into the upper corner of the net. Wardwell concluded the first-half scoring on a penalty stroke with just over a minute left in the period.

In the second half, Husson mounted a serious comeback attempt, as Sabrina Vaillancourt scored three straight goals over the first 20 minutes of the half to cut the Spartan lead to 5-3. 

Preusser ended the run at the 55:58 mark, though the Eagles' Liz Noddin scored with just eight minutes left in regulation to make it a two-goal game once again., 6-4. 

Junior Shawna Pinsonault pushed the lead back to three, 7-4, at 63:54, but Vaillancourt countered with a goal at 65:46 to keep Husson's hopes alive. 

Just 22 seconds later Preusser netted her hat trick to give Castleton an 8-5 advantage. Vaillancourt responded with just 20 seconds left, but it was too little too late as the Spartans finished with the 8-6 victory. 

Vaillancourt scored a game-high five goals for Husson in the loss while Maicee Gustin made six saves in net for the Eagles. 

Sophomore Jessica Galatioto  made nine saves in the cage as the Spartans improve to a program-record 17-4.

Castleton now has to wait until Tuesday, Nov. 6 to find out its opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

All-Tournament Team
Annie Agnew - Farmington
Lily Barry - Farmington
Katherine Rich - NEC
Rachel Carnaroli - NEC
Liz Noddin - Husson
Sabrina Vaillancourt - Husson
Mariah Arno - Husson
Mercedes Maltbie - Castleton
Kealy Chipman - Castleton
Madyson Martin - Castleton
Shannon Burns - Castleton
Stephanie Bardell - Castleton - MVP