CASTLETON Vt. – Castleton field hockey was shut out their season-opener, losing 5-0 to Union College in front of their home crowd Wednesday afternoon.
 
After a hopeful start to the game for the Spartans (0-1), the Dutchwomen settled in, applying constant pressure to Castleton's young backline before breaking the tie at the 6:36 mark. It was junior Isabel Lubin who opened up the scoring for Union (1-0), slotting her penalty stroke past Hannah Frittenburg to take the early lead.
 
The second quarter looked much better for the Spartans, and it seemed momentum had shifted their way halfway into the period. A couple of nice defensive stops in their own third from Madelyn Cote and Amelia Wilson allowed Castleton to build their offense from the back and led to the team's first real chances of the game.
 
Consecutive corners from captain Kaitlin Bardellini found their way to sophomore Emily Harris, who had her first deflected away and second, which found the back of the cage, called back for interference. Off of the disallowed goal, the Dutchwomen immediately went on the counter, catching the Spartans' backline out of position and doubling their lead in the game to two.
 
The third quarter brought more competitive play from Castleton, with the duo of Harris and Bardellini creating most of the offense. The Spartans got their third shot of the game off late into the frame, but costly turnovers in the midfield combined with the speed of Union's frontline led to two more goals in just over a minute for the Dutchwomen, making it 4-0 heading into the fourth.
 
Union would score their fifth goal two minutes into the final quarter to put the game to rest and hand Castleton their first loss of the year. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Spartans had been outshot 23-3 and conceded 10 penalty corners.
 
Castleton's next chance to earn their first win of the season comes Friday Sept. 3 at 4 P.M. as they kick off a three-game road trip with a matchup against Morrisville State.