CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans put their two-game winning streak on the line against Plymouth St. on Monday evening and came away with a 5-0 win over the Panthers, marking the first Castleton victory over the Plymouth St. since 2008.

The Spartans struck early, receiving a goal from freshman Sami Ritter (Wantage, N.J.) in the eighth minute. Ritter received a pass at the edge of the eighteen and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Chelsea Duval (Dover, N.H.) to lift the Spartans to an early 1-0 lead.

Ritter struck again three minutes later on a deflected pass from Emily Osmer (Wallingford, Vt.). Ritter collected the ball and lofted it over the Panthers' goalkeeper to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead that they took into halftime.

Castleton came out of the halftime break with the same intensity as the first. In the 49th minute, Mallory Costello (Vernon, N.J.) collected a pass from Kelsey Garceau (St. Albans, Vt.) and slotted the ball past the keeper for the Spartans' third goal of the game.

In the 70th minute, Castleton's relentless pressure forced Plymouth State into an own goal. A scrum in front of the goal resulted in a Plymouth defender putting an attempted clear into the net.

Freshman Kim French (White River Junction, Vt.) added a late goal off of a Danielle Sweet (Fletcher, Vt.) pass to put the Spartans up 5-0.

The Panthers fall to 1-6 and will play next Wednesday as they play host to Lyndon State. The Spartans improve to 6-2-1 and will return to action Sun., Sept. 30 against NAC foe Green Mountain College.