CASTLETON, Vt. – Under the lights of Dave Wolk Stadium, the Castleton field hockey team put together one of its best performances in program history, dominating the visiting Gators from start to finish en route to a 14-2 blowout victory.
 
The game was highlighted by Emily Harris' six goals, the most goals in a game since Rachel Preusser scored five in a match in 2013. The win also featured two other Spartan hat-tricks as well as the most goals scored (14) and the team's largest margin of victory (12) in Castleton field hockey's modern era.
 
Offense came early and often for the Spartans (3-5, 1-1 LEC), as Harris scored her first goal just over three minutes into the game. Coming off one of Haley Corlew's four assists on the day — also the most since Preusser did so in 2013 — Harris rocketed the ball past the Russell Sage's (1-5, 0-1 Empire 8) goalie and into the back of the cage to make it 1-0. Soon thereafter the first of Kaitlin Bardellini's three goals would put Castleton up 2-0. The opening frame ended with the Spartans up two, and would be the fewest goals they scored in a quarter that night.
 
The second quarter consisted of three goals, two scored by Bardellini to give the captain her third career hat-trick, and a third scored by Harris — her second of the night — to put the Spartans up 5-0. Castleton carried that lead into halftime, outshooting the Gators 19-0 with a 5-0 advantage on penalty corners, and looked absolutely dominant.
 
The lone sour spot of the game would come in the third quarter, as the Spartans were denied the shutout after Russell Sage converted on two penalty strokes. But despite conceding two goals in the frame, Castleton's lead had still grown by the end of the period.
 
After dishing out a couple of assists on the night, Corlew decided to score one of her own, slotting home a one-time shot off a cross from Payton Barlow to give the freshman her first career goal. Her finish, added on to a single-quarter hat trick from Harris would put the Spartans up 9-2 after three, but they still were not done. Castleton decided to save their best for last, outscoring the Gators 5-0 in the final frame to run their goal tally up to 14, the most a Spartans team has scored in the modern era.
 
Corlew would get things started for Castleton in the fourth, scoring two more goals, one of which came via Kimberly McCarthy's first career assist, to give herself her first ever hat trick. Two minutes later, Barlow scored her second of the year off a Corlew-feed, and Harris would score her sixth goal of the night with six minutes left to break the modern-era record and put Castleton up 13-2.
 
Along with her six goals breaking the record, Harris' 14 points (six goals and two assists) also represent the most in one game in Castleton field hockey's modern era.
 
Finally, with just over a minute left, Amelia Wilson joined the goal brigade, scoring her first goal in a Spartan uniform on Bardellini's third assist of the night. That helper put Bardellini and Corlew in rare company as the first to score and assist on three goals in a single game since Kealy Chipman did so in 2012. By the final whistle, the Spartans had outshot the Gators 36-4 and put together one of the most complete showings in program history.
 
This win should give Castleton plenty of momentum at the perfect time, as their next match starts a string of 10-straight conference games to conclude the season. That stretch begins with a trip to Willimantic, CT where the Spartans will face off against Eastern Connecticut State Saturday, Sept. 25, with first pass set for 2 PM.