Castleton, Vt. - Rachel Preusser and Kristy Pinkham each netted hat tricks as Castleton downed the New England College Pilgrims 6-1 in the wind and rain on Wednesday evening at Spartan Stadium.

The Spartans outshot the Pilgrims 47-20 on the night, but NEC goalkeeper Courtney Duquette kept the Pilgrims in the game with 24 saves. The senior also denied Castleton on three of four penalty stroke attempts, with the fourth stroke glancing just wide of the post. Jess Galatioto finished with 11 saves for the Spartans, earning her 10th win of the season.

Castleton applied pressure from the opening whistle, scoring just 1:01 into the game with a goal from Rachel Preusser. The forward received a pass from Blake Wardwell and beat the Pilgrims' goaltender to put the Spartans up 1-0. 

The home team added a pair of goals in the eighth and ninth minutes when Kristy Pinkham and Preusser each scored goals just over a minute apart. Pinkham ripped a heater off of a penalty corner from Preusser that found the bottom corner of the net. Then in the next minute, Preusser ripped her 18th goal on a breakaway from Shawna Pinsonault to put Castleton ahead 3-0.

Castleton added a fourth goal when Pinkham notched her second of the game. The junior cleaned up a scrum in front of the net to extend the Spartan advantage to 4-0.

After the half, the Pilgrims were the first to get on the board with a goal from Cody Kent in the first five minutes. Kent was on the near post after a penalty corner when Kristen O'Connell found her with a pass. Kent tipped it in to get the visitors on the board, making it 4-1.

The Spartans answered with Pinkham's third goal of the game. The midfielder received the ball off a botched clearance near the top of the circle and beat Duquette to complete her hat trick, extending the lead to 5-1. Preusser added her third of the game a few minutes later off of a Castleton set play on a penalty corner.

The Spartans improve to 10-5 on the season, including an 8-0 record within the North Atlantic Conference. The squad will take on Husson on Saturday at Spartan Stadium in their final conference game of the season.