JOHNSON, Vt. – The Spartans notched their third North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and fifth overall win of the season on Saturday, beating Johnson St. 3-0. Dameon Young scored the opening goal before Blake Hart tallied two more to give Castleton its second consecutive victory.

It took the Spartans just 11 minutes to grab their first lead of the game. Owen Fellows sent a cross into the box, Young connected with and sent the ball flying into the back of the net to give the away side an early one-goal advantage. 

In the 34th minute, Castleton doubled its lead courtesy of Hart. Jake Tietgens delivered a through ball to Hart who gathered it and slipped a shot past the Badgers keeper, Alex Pakatar, to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead just before the break.

With eight minutes remaining in the match, Hart scored his second goal of the contest and fourth on the season to extend Castleton's advantage to three. The junior forward raced past a pair of Johnson St. defenders and sent in a bending shot that beat Pakatar to make it 3-0 in favor of the Spartans.

Dan Palker started in net for Castleton, recording three saves to notch his fifth win and third shutout of the season. Pakatar featured between the sticks for the Badgers, producing nine saves en route to his sixth loss of the season.

With the victory, the Spartans improve to 5-6-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the NAC. Castleton returns to action on Tuesday as part of a men's and women's soccer doubleheader when they face New England College at Spartan Stadium in a conference match beginning at 6:30 pm.