CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans fell behind 3-0 in the opening seven minutes of the game and were never able to draw even over the final 53 minutes as Plymouth State came away 16-13 victory on Thursday afternoon. 

The Panthers outshot Castleton 17-7 in the opening 30 minutes and finished with a 33-26 edge in the contest as they improved to 4-2 overall. The Spartans picked up just 13 of 31 draw controls and 19 ground balls as they dropped to 2-4 on the year. 

Senior Brandi Whittemore paced the attack with six goals, one assist, four ground balls and three draw controls, while Brianna MacKay added three goals and two assists. Maria Ploof chipped in three assists, one goal and four draw controls. Meghan Els took the loss in net, making 14 saves while allowing 16 goals. 

Megan Tingley was all over the field for Plymouth, dishing off six assists to go with two goals, nine draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Caroline Vonachen provided a team-high five goals and one assist while Sam Sullivan added four goals. 

The Panthers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes, though a 3-1 spurt by the Spartans trimmed the deficit to 4-3 on a free position by Whittemore at 13:52. Tingley responded with a goal less then a minutes later as PSU outscored Castleton 3-1 over the remainder of the half for a 7-4 advantage. 

Whittemore led off the scoring 1:35 into the second and the Spartans trailed 8-6 following a goal by Ploof at 26:44. However, the Panthers responded with four goals over a three-minute period to stretch their lead to 12-6 with 21:49 left. Castleton tried to counter, but couldn't get the offense going until the final ten minutes. The Spartans outscored PSU 4-1 in the last 9:15, including three from MacKay, but the Panthers held on for the 16-13 victory. 

Clarissa Foote started and played 3:01 before being subbed for Meg Brault. Brault finished with eight saves while giving up seven goals in 38:30 to earn the victory. Emilee Wargo came on in relief and stopped three shots while allowing six goals over the final 18:29. 

Castleton returns to action on Saturday when the team hosts Thomas at 2:30 pm.