CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton women's rugby team took Game 1 in their matchup against Norwich University, but couldn't get anything going in the next two, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Cadets Sunday afternoon.
 
The day's opening game started with a bang as Castleton's (3-2) Hannah Coupas took the kick-off to the house just 25 seconds in for her first try of the day to make it a 7-0 game after Haley Conway hit the conversion attempt.
 
The game would go back and forth as Norwich (3-2) began to settle into their offense, and five minutes into the opening half the Cadets would find their way into the try zone off of a well-executed scrum, cutting the Spartans lead to just two. Luckily for Castleton, Norwich had no answer for Coupas, as she returned her second kick-off for a try 10 seconds later to put the Spartans back up seven.
 
It looked like the Cadets were poised to score before the half was over, but a try-saving tackle by Katelynn Dunn kept Norwich's Anita DiMento out of the zone and kept Castleton ahead entering the first break.
 
The Cadets kept the pressure on in the second half, but some excellent tackles by Tovah Coe, Coupas and Dunn led to a scoreless half of rugby from both sides, giving Castleton the 12-5 win in Game 1.
 
Game 2 got off to a slower start than the day's opener, but it was the Spartans striking first once again five minutes in. Acting quickly off a penalty call, Coe tapped the ball to herself before splitting a pair of Norwich defenders and willing herself into the tryzone for the score. Conway would find success on her second conversion attempt of the day to make it 7-0 Spartans. It looked like that would be the score entering halftime, but a last-second try by the Cadets' Caitlin Burke made a 7-5 game at the break.
 
The second half would be all Norwich, as the Cadets would score three unanswered tries and spend almost the entire half in Castleton's end. At the final whistle, the Spartans took a 22-7 loss and would be forced to play a Game 3 to decide the winner.
 
After being held without a try in Game 2, Coupas repeated her heroics from the day's opening game and returned the Cadets kick-off for her third try of the afternoon, giving Castleton the early 7-0 lead. But as was the case in Game 2, Norwich responded quickly and never looked back.
 
After Coupas' initial score, the Cadets would tally four tries of their own before halftime, and two more in the second half to take a 30-7 lead and hand Castleton their second loss of the season.
 
The Spartans will be back in action next weekend with a matchup against Manhattanville College scheduled for Sunday Oct. 24. The game will be played at Dave Wolk Stadium with kick-off set for 5 p.m.