NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team collected its first win of the season Sunday afternoon, defeating in-state rival Norwich University by a final score of 18-15.

Castleton (1-1) was led by another eight-point game from Erin Shuttle, who finished with six goals and two assists. Elizabeth Lumbra exploded for five goals on six shots, while Morgan Derosia added four goals and two assists in addition to a game-high eight draw controls and five ground balls. Megan Krumm had a five-assist day, adding a pair of goals for seven total points. Raven Payne stood tall in goal to earn her first career win, stopping 14 shots in the victory. The win also marked the first of head coach Josh Dionne's career.

Norwich was powered by five goals from Kate Winstanley, as well as another three from Allison Sturgeon. Sturgeon added five draw controls and three ground balls for the Cadets. Kathryn Preul led the Cadets with seven draw controls in addition to two goals on the day, while three Cadets had four ground ball pickups. Lawson Hayes was charged with the loss, allowing 17 goals in 58-plus minutes with 10 saves. Amber McGinley allowed one goal and made one save in less than two minutes of work.

Norwich led the stat sheet in a majority of categories, outshooting Castleton 42-36 and winning 20-of-33 draw controls. Both sides turned the ball over 26 times and each side converted clears at a 60 percent rate. The Cadets held an edge in ground balls, 25-23, and scored three free-position goals to Castleton's two.

The first half was an offensive barrage for both sides, as the two teams racked up a combined 21 goals heading into halftime. Norwich got out to a two-goal lead early thanks to tallies by Sturgeon and Preul, but Castleton answered back with a pair of goals from Shuttle and Derosia to knot the score at 2-2 seven minutes in. After Norwich went ahead 3-2, Courtney McGannon scored her first goal of the season on a free-position shot to tie it at 3-all. The tie was short-lived, as Norwich regained a 4-3 lead less than 20 seconds later, but a pair of goals by Shuttle and Lumbra just more than one minute apart gave Castleton its first lead of the game—and of the season—5-4. Winstanley knotted the game up for Norwich, 5-5, but Castleton then rattled off four straight goals—three from the stick of Lumbra—to take a 9-5 edge with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.

The two offenses were far from done, as Winstanley scored for Norwich to make it 9-6 before Krumm got on the board for Castleton to push the Spartan lead back to four. Two straight Norwich goals cut Castleton's lead in half, 10-8, but Shuttle scored twice in the last three minutes on each end of a Norwich goal to send the Spartans into the halftime break leading 12-9.

The second half was much more tame, as Castleton opened the scoring two minutes in with Lumbra's fifth goal. With the Spartans on top 13-9, Norwich added three unanswered goals to cut the Castleton lead to just one—13-12—but the Spartans responded with a three-goal run of their own as Shuttle, Derosia and Krumm extended the lead back to four, 16-12. The two sides then traded goals the rest of the way, with Derosia and Shuttle tacking on late scores for Castleton to seal the win, 18-15.

The Spartans are back in action Wednesday at 4 p.m. when they host Colby-Sawyer at 4 p.m. to start a five-game homestand at Dave Wolk Stadium.