CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans started slow but finished strong in their final regular season game of the year as they took down Green Mountain 19-5 on Monday afternoon in Spartan Stadium. 

Castleton outshot the Eagles 34-20 and won 17 of 25 draw controls to improve to 10-0-5 overall and 8-0 in the North Atlantic Conference. The victory gives the team its fifth straight undefeated NAC regular season and assures the Spartans of the top seed in the upcoming NAC Tournament. Green Mountain drops to 5-8 and 4-4 in conference play. 

Junior Grace Johnson paced the offense with five goals on six shots with eight draw controls and one assist. Brianna MacKay added six goals and one assist while Brandi Whittemore had a team-high eight points on three goals and five assists. Tiffany Danyow chipped in five ground balls and two caused turnovers. 

For the Eagles, Catie Brewster scored three goals with one ground ball while Martha Howe added one goals, three draw controls and two ground balls. 

The Spartans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening three minutes behind goals from MacKay, Whittemore and Maria Ploof. Brewster put Green Mountain on the board at 26:40, but Castleton added two more goals for a 5-1 advantage. The Eagles pulled within three, 6-3, with eight minutes left in the half, but MacKay and Ploof each scored for an 8-3 advantage at the break. 

MacKay made it 9-3 just 32 seconds into the second half and Johnson pushed it to 10-3 three minutes later. The offense continued to roll and stretched the lead to 14-4 on a goal by Danyow with 19:54 left in the contest. Brewster ended the run with a goal two minutes later, but Castleton outscored Green Mountain 6-0 the rest of the way to earn the 14-goal victory. 

Senior Meghan Els turned in another strong performance, stopping seven shots while allowing five goals to secure the win. Chelsea Wimble took the loss as she gave up 19 goals and made eight saves. 

The Spartans return to action on Sunday when they host a NAC Semifinal matchup at a time to be determined.