CASTLETON, Vt. – Castleton fell behind early in the first half and was never able to overcome the deficit, as the fourth-seeded New England College Pilgrims pulled off the 3-1, upset victory over the Spartans this afternoon in the North Atlantic Conference Semifinals at Spartan Stadium.

Jaycie Triandafilou opened the scoring for the Pilgrims in the tenth minute of play before Ali Leizure and Michaela Pomeroy provided a pair of second half goals to cement the squad's spot in Sunday's NAC Championship against the second-seeded Colby-Sawyer Chargers. Eva Clark provided the lone Spartan goal of the afternoon off a corner kick from Dominique Valancius, as the Spartans finished their season at 12-8 overall. 

The Pilgrims wasted little time to jump in front, as Triandafilou scored her fifth goal in the last two games to give the away side a 1-0 lead in the tenth minute of play. Off a corner kick, NEC played the ball short to Caroline Mols, and the senior defender sent in a perfect ball towards the far post that Triandafilou headed home for the first score of the afternoon. 

The away side continued to press over the remainder of the first half, outshooting the Spartans 3-0 and creating a number of scoring opportunities, but the hosts stood strong to maintain the one-goal deficit heading into the break.

However, in the 47th minute, the Pilgrims were at it again when Leizure found the back of the net to double the visitors' lead. Similar to the opening goal, Alana Scott delivered a ball near the far post that landed at the feet of Leizure, and the junior forward tapped it home to make it 2-0 in favor of NEC.

The Spartans nearly found an answer just minutes later when Mallory Costello fired a shot from the top of the box, but Mackenzie Meegan was there to deny the attempt and preserve the Pilgrims' two-goal advantage. 

Castleton had another golden opportunity with 25 minutes left in play when Bronwen Hopwood dribbled towards the near post and delivered a cross to Nicole Wershoven in the box. Unfortunately, Wershoven's attempt flew just over the crossbar and out of danger. 

With less than two minutes remaining, Pomeroy dribbled past a defender and finished a shot across the face of the net to extend the visitor's lead to three. The Spartans responded just seconds later when Clark headed home her ninth score of the year, but it was too little too late, as the Pilgrims knocked off the top-seeded Spartans, 3-1.

The match was a hard-fought affair with 15 total fouls and two cards being handed out. The Spartans outshot the Pilgrims 12-7 and held the edge in corner kicks 5-4. Jessica Binkowski suffered the loss after producing one save in 90 minutes of play, while Meegan produced three saves to record her ninth win of the year for NEC.