CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton field hockey team put together a second consecutive one-goal win Wednesday night, besting the Vikings 4-3 in front of the home crowd.
The Spartans (6-9, 4-5 LEC) were on their heels a bit early, with Salem State getting off two penalty corners and a shot in the first few minutes, but it was Castleton opening up the scoring at the nine-minute mark.
Collecting the ball at midfield,
Emily Harris sent a long-ball to
Kaitlin Bardellini. With only one player to beat, the captain took a hard touch around the Vikings' last defender before sending it past Salem keeper Kelli McCarthy and into the far corner of the cage to make it a 1-0 game.
It looked as though the Vikings would find an equalizer at the end of the quarter, but some incredible individual defense from
Amelia Wilson to prevent the fastbreak kept Salem State off the board in the opening frame.
The second quarter started similarly for the Vikings, getting off three penalty corners and three shots over the first three minutes, but it was the Spartans doubling their lead on their first opportunity of the period.
Eight minutes in, Harris took the ball off a penalty call, carried it into the circle and to the baseline, and crossed it toward the front. After the initial shot by
Payton Barlow was blocked,
Kimberly McCarthy got the ball at the far post and scooped it into the cage for her second career goal, giving Castleton the 2-0 lead. The Vikings would get one back off a scrum to cut the Spartans lead in half, but more strong defense to end the quarter saw Castleton stay up 2-1 entering halftime.
The script would flip at the start of the second half, as the Spartans would go on the offensive to start the third quarter. Taking the ball in quickly from out of bounds, Harris beat a Salem State defender, got to the top of the circle and rifled a backhand shot into the upper corner of the cage to make it a 3-1 game. Two minutes later, Harris would strike again.
Stealing the ball in the Vikings' final third, the sophomore easily split two Salem defenders, before coolly sliding the ball into the near post for her second score of the day, giving Castleton the crucial three-goal lead.
Harris now sits at 23 goals on the year, which is tied for the fourth-most in a single season in Castleton history. With three regular season games left, she is just five goals away from breaking the previous record of 27 set by Kealy Chipman in 2012.
The Vikings didn't take long to respond, scoring two unanswered goals over the final 10 minutes of the third, making it a one-score game once again heading into the final frame.
The fourth started out slowly for both sides, but with five minutes left in regulation the Vikings turned the pressure up. The Spartans back line fought off two penalty corners and three shots from Salem State in the span of a minute to hold onto their one-goal lead, eventually regaining possession and running the clock out to earn the 4-3 win.
Castleton has now scored four goals in back-to-back games, and will look to keep the offense rolling in their matchup against Westfield State Saturday, Oct. 23. The game will be played at Dave Wolk Stadium with first pass is set for 4:30 p.m.
