CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans trailed by just one at the half and then again with 15 minutes left in regulation, but Western New England ended the game on a 5-2 run to come away with a 16-12 victory on a soggy Thursday evening in Spartan Stadium. 

Castleton actually outshot the Golden Bears, 28-26, picked up more ground balls, 19-14, and had more draw controls, 20-15, but turned the ball over 21 times to drop to 1-2 overall. Western impressively put 24 of its 26 shots on the cage and caused 12 turnovers to improve to 3-1 overall. 

Senior Brianna MacKay led the offense with four goals while Maria Ploof added two goals and two assists. Tiffany Danyow had two goals, three draw controls and three caused turnovers while Brandi Whittemore chipped in two points with eight draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers. 

For the Golden Bears, Taylor Scialdone was dominant with eight points on five goals and three assists while adding three draws, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Julie Winer dished off five assists and Tori Cirocco scored five times while also earning an assist. 

Western scored just 16 seconds into the contest, but Danyow responded just over a minute later to tie the game 1-1. The Golden Bears countered with five straight goals in a five-minute stretch for a 6-1 advantage with 23:11 left in the half. Emily Cross ended the run at 22:45, and the Spartans got goals from MacKay and Ploof to trim the deficit to 6-4 with 21 minutes remaining. 

Cirocco halted the Castleton run at 20:51, but Ploof responded 32 seconds later to make it 7-5. It remained a two-goal game, until Scialdone scored at the 7:20 mark. Grace Johnson pulled the Spartans closer as she scored twice in the final 54 seconds of the half to leave them down just 8-7.

The Golden Bears outscored Castleton 3-1 over the first 11 minutes of the second for an 11-8 advantage. However, back-to-back goals by MacKay and Danyow made it a one-goal game at 16:17. The Spartans wouldn't get any closer as Western scored four times over the next ten minutes to push its lead to 15-11. Castleton only managed a pair of MacKay goals and the Golden Bears also added one in the last six minutes to provide the final four-goal margin. 

Senior Meghan Els took the loss in net as she allowed 16 goals while making eight saves. Taylor Esperti picked up a team-high five ground balls while Johnson chipped in two goals and one assist.

Western goalie Shannon McFadden also stopped eight shots, but only gave up 12 scores to earn the win. 

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday when they host the University of New England at 4 pm.