Castleton, Vt. - The Spartans advanced to their second consecutive North Atlantic Conference championship game with a 7-0 victory over Maine-Farmington in the semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

Blake Wardwell and Sarah Heffernan each had a pair of goals while Rachel Preusser notched a goal and dished off two assists to lead Castleton into the championship game. 

Maine-Farmington pressured Castleton early in the game, but the Spartans defense did not break, clearing every attempt that the visitors made before the ball got to the net. 

The Spartans got on the board in the 24th minute when Rachel Preusser found Blake Wardwell for the team's first goal. Preusser broke down the left side of the field, sprinting past a Maine-Farmington defender. The forward pulled the ball back as a Beavers' defender sprinted past and sent it across the goal mouth to Wardwell on the back post who finished it off.

Less than two minutes later, Wardwell ripped a shot that clanked off the post. Preusser received the rebound off the post and slotted it into the back of the net to put Castleton up 2-0 in the 26th minute of play.

In the second half, Castleton came out firing on all cylinders, and scored two quick goals in the first 10 minutes of the half. Blake Wardwell drove in a goal from the right side and was quickly followed by a goal from Kristy Pinkham off of a penalty corner. The pair of scores put Castleton up 4-0 with 25 minutes remaining.

The Spartans added an insurance goal in the 43rd minute when Shawna Pinsonault finished off a rebound from a shot by Stephanie Bardell. The goal put Castleton ahead 5-0 with just over 15 minutes to play. Sarah Heffernan added a pair of late goals to put Castleton up 7-0, a lead that they held until the final whistle. 

Jess Galatioto finished the game with three saves, posting her fifth shutout of the season. Curran Brierley made seven saves in the loss as the Beavers ended their season with a record of 8-7. Castleton improved to 13-6 on the season and will host St. Joseph's (Maine) in the NAC Championship on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4:30pm.