CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans improved to 5-5 on the season and 2-0 in the North Atlantic Conference with a 3-0 win over Thomas on Saturday. Dominique Valancius, Marissa Benson and Jess Phillips provided the scoring en route to the victory.

Castleton's offense pressured the Terriers defense early on in the match, taking seven shots and forcing the Terriers keeper, Paige Leary, to make four saves in the opening 11 minutes of play. 

In the 14th minute, Castleton was inches away from taking its first lead of the game when Nicole Wershoven's shot rolled just wide of the post. Sarah Carlson played a through ball to Wershoven, who outran the defender and beat the keeper, but her effort was off target.

The Spartans took the lead in the 33rd minute courtesy of Valancius' first goal of the season. Wershoven delivered a cross in the box that Valancius collected and immediately finished into the upper 90 of the goal, giving Castleton a 1-0 lead.

Just five minutes later, Benson doubled the Spartans lead when she scored her first career goal. Mallory Costello passed the ball to Benson in the middle of the box, and the freshman chipped it over Leary to extend Castleton's lead to two.

Thomas had its best opportunity of the first half in the 42nd minute when Kajsa Kaufeldt's shot forced Jessica Binkowski to make a diving save.

Castleton's offense continued its high-tempo, attacking play in the second half, and in the 61st minute, the Spartans grabbed their third goal of the match when Phillips' 15-yard strike soared into the back of the net to make it 3-0.

Kiley Baran nearly notched her second career goal in the 74th minute when the freshman delivered a shot from the top of the box on goal, but Leary's diving effort knocked the ball out of play.

Just seven minutes later, the Spartans had another great scoring opportunity after Baran's through ball found Phillips open in the box, but the Terriers keeper made another fine save to keep the lead at three. 

Overall, Castleton outshot their opponents by 33 and had the edge in corner kicks, 6-0.

With the win, Binkowski improved her record to 5-5 overall after making three saves in the shutout victory. Leary drops to 3-6 on the season after recording 19 saves in Thomas' loss.

Castleton returns to action on Sunday when it hosts the University of Maine at Farmington for a North Atlantic Conference match beginning at 4:30 pm.