CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton field hockey team suffered its third loss of the season this afternoon to Plymouth State by a final score of 8-0.

With the loss, Castleton fall to 2-3 on the season, while Plymouth State has climbed back to 2-2 with back-to-back shutout wins.

Plymouth State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead that the Spartans could never recover from. Katie Martin, Nicole Burgess, and Kate McPherson tallied goals within the first 16 minutes of play to give the Panthers the advantage. Martin tallied two more goals in the final 15 minutes of the first half to tally a hat trick and help give the Panthers a 6-0 lead at the break.  

After posting four shots on goal in the game's first 35 minutes, the Spartans came out stronger in the second half with more possession and shots on goal. Sarah Wells tallied five of the team's ten shots in the second half.  

Strong defense from the Panthers kept the Spartans in check for the afternoon with the best offensive opportunity coming at the 21-minute mark of the second half when Wells and Cydney Jeffrey pierced through the Panthers defense for a two-on-one into the goal. The pass from Wells, however, was deflected in front of the goal and quickly cleared by the Panthers defender to end the threat.  

While the Spartans were putting pressure on late in the second half, Haley Spittle was awarded a penalty stroke after causing havoc in front of the cage with 12:41 remaining. Spittle's non-contested shot came off the ground and shifted the goalkeeper to her right for a strong save to keep the shutout in tact.

Despite tallying ten shots in the second half, Castleton was kept off the board while the Panthers added two more goals en route to the 8-0 win.

Wells led the Spartans with eight shots on goal, followed by Spittle with two. Senior Meeghan Doris falls to 0-1 on the campaign after making 16 saves in the contest.

Castleton will return to action at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15 when the Spartans travel to Westfield State for a non-conference matchup.