Box Score WORCESTER, Mass. – The Castleton field hockey team came close but could not complete the comeback Tuesday night, losing 3-2 to Worcester State away from home. After going 4-0 in games they had scored at least two goals in to start the year, the Spartans have now lost three straight in which they have scored multiple goals.
 
This matchup started as Castleton's (4-9, 2-5 LEC) previous two had, with the Spartans striking first. Just 50 second into the game, Emily Harris intercepted a pass at midfield and countered quickly, beating two Lancer defenders and goalie Sam Gastonguay to give her team the 1-0 lead.
 
The goal was Harris' 18^th of the year, pushing the sophomore past head coach Emily Lowell's career-high of 17 and tying assistant coach Gabby Hunt for ninth on Castleton's all-time list of goals in a single season.
 
Following the Spartans' goal, the remainder of the quarter would be spent in Castleton's half before Worcester State (10-3, 5-2 LEC) leveled up the score off Emily Floury's first goal of the evening. The Lancers would get a couple more chances before the end of the frame but the Spartans' defense and goalie Maddi Leduc tightened up to keep it 1-1.

The offensive pressure from Worcester continued in the second quarter, and the Lancers would break through five minutes in off a quick counter-attack to take the 2-1 lead. Castleton turned the tides toward the end of the quarter, getting off four shots and two penalty corners in the final three minutes, but were unable to get the ball past Gastonguay, and would enter halftime down a goal.
 
Despite the Spartans' strong end to the half, Worcester would double their lead early on in the third quarter from Floury's second score, putting Castleton behind 3-1. But with under a minute to go in the frame, Kimberly McCarthy would tally her first goal of the year to bring the Spartans back within one, converting on a scrum in front of the cage and putting them right back in the game.
 
It looked as though the Lancers would get their lead back to two on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter, but defensive saves from Madelyn Cote and Harris, as well as a few key stops from Leduc — who tallied eight saves on the day — held it to just a one-score game.
 
Halfway into the final frame Harris and Theresa Culpo both got great looks, but Worcester's defense stood tall, refusing to let anything by. The Lancers would keep possession of the ball for the final five minutes, ending the game and handing Castleton their third-straight tough loss.
 
The Spartans will look to get back on track Saturday, Oct. 16 with a home matchup against Fitchburg State. The game will be played at Dave Wolk Stadium with first pass set for 1 p.m.