CASTLETON, Vt. - The third-seeded Castleton women's soccer team earned a 3-0 victory over sixth-seeded Keene State Tuesday evening at Dave Wolk Stadium in the opening round of the Little East Conference Tournament. Rylee Nichols was responsible for all three goals, posting her second hat trick of the season and eclipsing 100 career points. 

In the regular season meeting between the two programs, Nichols needed just 10 seconds to put Castleton on the board. In tonight's contest, Nichols first found the back of the net in the 11th minute. She chased down an Owls defender before besting the goalkeeper in a one-on-one opportunity. The tally was all Alex Benfatti and the vaunted Spartan defense would need, but Nichols would tack on two more for good measure. 

The opening goal gave Nichols 100 career points, making her the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone. 

Doubling the Castleton lead in the 56th minute, Nichols collected a long pass from Rachel Medina in stride, running alongside a pair of defenders. Her rocket from 15 yards out was placed just under the crossbar. 

Nichols put the finishing touches on the hat trick in the 89th minute, intercepting a pass from a Keene State defender before launching a shot from 25 yards out. The tally put Nichols' goal total at 14, which lands her in a tie for second in the LEC. She was responsible for four of Castleton's five shots on goal. 

Keene State totaled three shots on goal, all of which were turned away by Benfatti. She posted her ninth shutout of the season, which leads all LEC keepers by a wide margin. 

The win marked Castleton's second LEC Playoff victory - the team pulled off an upset of Keene State as the sixth seed in 2019. Standing between the Spartans and a trip to the conference championship is UMass Boston, who will host the semifinal tilt as the second seed Thursday evening.