NEW LONDON, N.H. – The Castleton rugby team fell just short in their matchup against Colby-Sawyer Sunday afternoon, spitting the day's first two games before dropping Game 3 to hand the Spartans their first loss of the season.
 
Game 1 was the afternoon's highest scoring game in a defense-oriented day, with the Chargers (1-2) stealing the 12-5 victory. A quiet first half saw Colby-Sawyer enter the break with a 7-0 lead, but their second try of the day with 2:41 remaining in the game would make it a two-score game. Castleton's Hannah Coupas would score her first try as time expired to get the Spartans on the board, but it wouldn't be enough as the Chargers took the first game.
 
Castleton (2-1) struck first in Game 2 via an Olivia Strong try to take the early 5-0 lead. Each team's defense picked up and the score would stay 5-0 heading into halftime, but the Spartans doubled their lead in the second half off of Coupas' second try of the day to make it 10-0. Colby-Sawyer would get on the board with just over a minute remaining to make it 10-5, but Castleton's defense stood tall and took Game 2 to force a third match.
 
Both defenses took over in the afternoon's third game, but it was the Chargers breaking the tie with 2:30 remaining in the first half to give themselves a 5-0 lead. It looked like that would be the score entering halftime but a last-second try by Colby-Sawyer made it 10-0 at the break.
 
The Spartans' attack would try to get something going in the second half but couldn't get past the Charger's tough backline. At the final whistle, Colby-Sawyer held the 10-0 advantage, handing Castleton their first shutout loss of the season and first series loss on the year.
 
Next up for the Spartans is a stretch of three home games, starting with a matchup against New England College Sunday, Oct. 10. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.