CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans (1-10) dropped a tough, non-conference match at Spartan Stadium on Tuesday to No. 7 Amherst College, 8-0.

Castleton was outshot by 43 and edged on penalty corners by 17 en route to tallying its tenth loss of the season. With the win, the nationally ranked Jeffs improved to 10-2 in 2014.

It took just three minutes for the visitors to notch its first lead of the game when Elizabeth Turnbull scored from a penalty corner. Annika Nygren took the penalty corner, delivering a pass to Turnbull at the top of the shooting circle, who dribbled in and fired a shot that beat the Spartans keeper, Jess Galatioto, to give Amherst a 1-0 advantage.

The Jeffs offense continued to cause problems for the Spartans, and over the next six minutes, the away side tacked on three more goals to extend their lead to four. 

In the 25th minute, Amherst grabbed its fifth goal of the first half when Katie Paolano tallied her second goal of the match. Ellie Anderson passed the ball to Paolano in front of the goal. The junior forward gathered the ball and buried a shot into the net to make it 5-0 in favor of the Jeffs.

With three minutes remaining in the first period of play, Mary Margaret Stoll finished a rebound shot to give Amherst a six-goal lead. 

In the second half, the Jeffs offense continued to click, adding on two more goals, including a nice chip shot from Mary Grace Cronin in the 40th minute, to secure an 8-0 victory.

Galatioto played all 70 minutes in net for Castleton, producing 20 saves with eight goals allowed in her tenth loss of the season. Emily Horwitz picked up her eight victory of 2014 after making one save in the first half for Amherst, while Rachel Tannebaum completed the shutout with one save in the second half.

The Spartans return to action on Friday as they travel to Keene St. to finish the September 2 match after it was delayed due to severe weather with 3:06 remaining in the second half and the Owls leading 4-2. On Saturday, Castleton travels to Thomas looking for a North Atlantic Conference match beginning at 11 am.