CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton field hockey team allowed four first-half goals and were unable to find the back of the cage en route to a 5-0 loss in a non-conference matchup at Rensselaer on Wednesday night.

With the loss, the Spartans fall to 3-6 on the season and remain 1-0 in the NAC East, while Rensselaer moves to 5-3 overall.

The Engineers came out quick with a goal from Megan Jones just over one minute into the game. After Jones tallied another at the 13:35 mark of the first half, Taylor Clink delivered on a penalty stroke less than three minute later before Cristina Tellez returned the penalty corner from Jena Dolinar to give the Engineers a 4-0 lead at the break.

The Spartans added pressure in the second half with shots from Haley Spittle, Cydney Jeffrey, and Rachel Holland but goalkeeper Rachel Kaufman was up to the task to keep Castleton off the scoreboard. Holland found an open net at the 57:53 mark but defender Mac Reininger was there for the defensive save to keep the shutout in tact.

Mariah Linnett notched two defensive saves, while Gabrielle Ryan added another but the Spartans could not hold the Engineers, as Claire Cecilio posted the fifth and final goal at the 54:30 mark to secure the 5-0 victory.

Spittle led the offense with four shots on goal, while Jeffrey, Holland, and Sarah Wells rounded out the seven total shots on goal with one apiece.

Leah Holland faced 15 shots and recorded ten saves in the cage for Castleton, despite falling to 2-3 on the season following the loss. 

Castleton returns to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday for a conference matchup at Husson.