CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team competed in its first game in exactly a year on Wednesday evening, falling to Plymouth State in non-conference action at Dave Wolk Stadium, 8-5.
The Spartans (0-1) struck first, but Plymouth State (1-0) answered with six unanswered goals until Castleton stopped the run midway through the third quarter. Castleton scored twice in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers held firm for the three-goal win. Castleton held a 37-30 advantage in shots, but Plymouth held a 32-26 edge in ground balls and won 10-of-17 face-offs. Castleton was 15-of-19 on the clear, while Plymouth State went 16-of-24 clearing the ball. Both sides struggled with the man-advantage, with PSU going 1-for-9 and Castleton 1-for-5.
Trey Lang's three-point day led the Spartans, as he notched a goal and two assists. Dawson Nalette added two goals for Castleton, while Tom Grabher and Chris LaBonte scored once each. Ty Bowen also logged an assist in his first collegiate contest. Maxx Ingison stopped seven of the 15 shots he faced on the day while shouldering the loss in goal.
The Panthers received a five-point games from Riley Roy and Mike Fleury, as Roy registered four goals and an assist on the evening and Fleury had two goals and three helpers. Ryan Hanlon had two points on a goal and an assist, while Miles Franey rounded out Plymouth's goal scorers. Robert Porter earned the win with 15 saves on 20 shots against in goal, moving him to 1-0 on the year.
Castleton got on the board first, as Lang found the back of the net just more than five minutes into the game. Plymouth answered late in the first quarter, as Fleury notched his first of the game with just 33 seconds to play after dodging a defender and beating Ingison. The Panthers scored two more goals in the second quarter, as Franey and Fleury made it a 3-1 game heading into halftime.
The Panthers broke the game open in the third quarter, scoring three goals in a row—each from the stick of Roy—out of the break to make it a 6-1 edge with 10:50 to go in the third quarter. Castleton answered with two goals of their own, as Nalette and Grabher scored within a minute of one another to cut the lead back to 6-3, a score that held into the final frame.
Plymouth extended its lead back to five goals—8-3—with just nine minutes to play, putting the game out of reach for the Spartans. Castleton scored two goals late, as LaBonte and Nalette found the back of the goal, but it wasn't enough as the final horn sounded on an 8-5 contest.
The Spartans return to action Saturday at 3 p.m. at Norwich.
