FARMINGTON, Maine – Castleton jumped out to a 5-0 lead just eight minutes into the contest, scoring early and often on the way to a 23-5 victory over the University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday afternoon. 

Senior Brianna MacKay had a hand in each of the team's first five goals and had seven goals and three assists at the half, before finishing with a career-best 11 total points. She scored on all eight of her shots, and her eight goals are tied for the second-highest single game total in program history. 

As a team, Castleton outshot the Beavers 42-13 while picking up 27 ground balls and registering 21 caused turnovers, to improve to 4-4 and 2-0 in the North Atlantic Conference. UMF, meanwhile, picked up 13 of 29 draw controls and was limited to 18 ground balls while falling to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play. 

In addition to MacKay, Brandi Whittemore was also impressive. She posted five goals, two assists, four draw controls and two caused turnovers while Maria Ploof added two goals, three assists, four draw controls and two caused turnovers. Tiffany Danyow chipped in five ground balls and a team-high five caused turnovers while scoring a goal. 

The Beavers received two goals from Alaina Shorey to pace the offense while Rhi Jackson added one goal and five draw controls. Jaclyn Langevin scored once in addition to seven draw controls, four ground balls and four caused turnovers. 

MacKay sparked Castleton to an early lead, scoring twice and dishing off an assist in the first six minutes for a 3-0 advantage. She added two more goals over the next two minutes for a 5-0 lead, before Shorey responded with back-to-back goals. 

The Spartans countered with four goals in under two minutes to stretch their lead to 8-2 with 13:49 remaining in the period. Jackson tried to stop the run with a goal, but two scores apiece by MacKay and Whittemore made it 13-3 with five minutes left. Langevin tallied a goal late for a 13-4 score at the half. 

Grace Johnson led off the second half with back-to-back goals and the Spartans eventually extended their lead to 20-4 on a Danyow goal with 12:02 left. Johnson, Emilee Maher and Hannah Hobbs made it 23-4, before a late UMF goal provided the 18-goal difference. 

Senior Meghan Els played the full 60 minutes, allowing five goals while making three saves in net. Alyssa Arsenault took the loss as she gave up 23 goals but did stop 15 shots.

The Spartans return to action on Wednesdaly when they host Colby-Sawyer at 7 pm. The Chargers are currently 3-0 in the NAC.