CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton field hockey team dropped a non-conference matchup to No. 8 Skidmore by a final score of 8-1 Wednesday evening at Spartan Stadium.

The loss moves the Spartans to 4-10 overall, while Skidmore now sits at 11-3.

Haley Spittle scored the only goal for the Spartans on an assist from Rachel Holland, while Meeghan Doris made a career-high 31 saves in the contest.

Skidmore got out to an early lead, scoring just 3:16 into the contest when Jenn Hanks took a pass from Becca Halter on a penalty corner and fired it home to give the Thoroughbreds a 1-0 lead. Dani DeGregory would extend the Thoroughbred lead to 2-0 when she backhanded a shot into the left side of the net just minutes later. 

The Spartans would hold off the Skidmore attack for the remainder of the half, and had their best look to cut into the Thoroughbred lead with just over one minute remaining to play when Sarah Wells got out on a breakaway before Skidmore goalie Zoe McGuire came out and made a diving save.

Skidmore would once again strike at the start of a half, with Florsheim scoring just over three minutes into the second half. Florsheim would find the back of the cage again just three minutes later to put the visitors up 4-0, before Castleton would answer back with a goal of their own. Haley Spittle took a pass from Rachel Holland on a penalty corner and drove it past the goalie, making it a 4-1 game with less than 26 minutes to play.

Skidmore would rattle off four unanswered goals to end the game, including two more scores from Florsheim, and one each from Hanks and Krista Lamoreaux. DeGregory finished the contest with one goal and two assists, while Hanks scored two goals for the Thoroughbreds.

Doris stopped 31 shots in the contest, while four different Spartans tallied defensive saves in the defeat. McGuire made 10 saves for Skidmore in the victory, earning her eighth win of the season.

Skidmore held a 60-13 shot advantage in the contest, while also holding a 23-7 advantage in penalty corners.

The Spartans are back in action Saturday when they travel to the University of Maine-Farmington to take on the Beavers in a North Atlantic Conference matchup. Game time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.