CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton men's soccer team dropped a tight, non-conference contest to in-state rival Norwich on Tuesday evening at Spartan Stadium, falling 3-2.

The Spartans drop to 1-4-2 with the loss, while the Cadets get back to .500 at 3-3-2 on the season.

Fidele Rutayisire and Dallas Desroches each netted their first goals of the season, while Dan Palker made one save in his first appearance of the season.

For Norwich, Noah Schiers and Luke Gleadle connected on their first scores of the season, while Alec Brigante scored for the second time in 2016. Billy Whaley picked up the victory, making five saves in his first start of the season.

In the 9th minute, a Spartan misplay led to a golden chance for Norwich, but Gleadle's shot went high over the net and out of bounds to end the threat. Seven minutes later, the Spartans had a chance of their own when Paul Phillips took a free kick that went just over the net after Castleton had sustained pressure in the Cadet end of the field.

Norwich opened the scoring in the 24th minute, when Schiers connected on a deflected ball in the box, driving it into the right side of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived, as the Spartans answered in the 29th minute of play. Seth Wilmott fielded a throw in and dropped a quick pass to Rutayisire, who broke towards the net. The freshman pulled the trigger from the left side of the net, beating the goalie to the far side to even the score at 1-1.

In the second half, Norwich came out firing and put two goals on the board in the first eight minutes. In the 48th minute, Castleton worked to clear the ball from its defensive end, but a ricochet found the head of Brigante, who placed it in the back of the net to put Norwich up once more. Just five minutes later, the Cadets would receive a penalty kick after drawing a foul in the box. Gleadle stepped to the spot and buried a shot into the bottom-left corner of the net to give his team an insurance goal and a 3-1 advantage.

In the 57th minute, Castleton had a corner kick opportunity of its own, and the Spartans took advantage. After multiple deflections, Desroches rose above the defense and headed the ball over the fingertips of Whaley to pull the Spartans within a goal with 33 minutes to play.

In the 71st minute, Cameron Rossi-Crete sent a long ball to Derek Blouin, but Blouin's attempt missed just outside the right post, leaving the Spartans down by one score. In the 80th minute, Jack Kingdon drew a foul that produced a yellow card on Norwich, but the ensuing Spartan chance was nullified by a strong Cadet defense.

Neither side could find the back of the net on the way out, giving the game its final score of 3-2.

Castleton outshot Norwich 20-10 overall and 7-4 on goal. The Spartans also earned 11 corner kicks to Norwich's three, although the fouls were nearly even with Castleton committing eight to the Cadets' seven.

Castleton returns to action Saturday when it travels to Colby-Sawyers to resume North Atlantic Conference competition. Game time is slated for 1 p.m.