FITCHBURG. Mass. – The Castleton field hockey team outshot Fitchburg State 10-4 in the second half of Thursday night's contest, including a late goal by Haley Spittle, but a slow start was too much to overcome as the Spartans dropped its final non-conference matchup of the regular season, 3-1.

The loss drops Castleton to 6-11 overall on the season, while Fitchburg State wins its fifth straight to improve to 11-4.

Fitchburg State was on the board early when Erin Morrissey tucked a loose ball inside the far post to give the Falcons a 1-0 advantage just 12:14 into the contest.

Less than three minutes later the Falcons were at it again, extending its lead to 2-0 after Molly Richard collected a feed from Maddie Hoffman and found the back of the cage for her team-leading 16th goal of the season.

Meeghan Doris was solid in the cage, picking up two key saves down the stretch to keep the score 2-0 at the half.

After giving up a goal in the 43rd minute of the contest, the Castleton offense came on strong, outshooting the Falcons 5-1 over the final 27 minutes. Spittle picked up her seventh goal of the season with just over three minutes remaining, but that was all the Spartans could find, as the Fitchburg State goalkeeper turned aside four shots down the stretch to preserve the 3-1 victory.

Cydney Jeffrey and Sarah Wells shared three shots on goal apiece to lead the offense, while Spittle added two shots, including the lone goal on the night for the Spartans.

Doris made nine saves in the cage for Castleton, despite falling to 3-7 on the campaign.

Castleton returns to action at 11 a.m. on Saturday for a crucial North Atlantic Conference matchup at Thomas College.