Northampton, Mass. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team hung tough with Smith College over the final 45 minutes of play on Wednesday night, but a first-quarter deficit proved too much to overcome late in the contest as the Spartans dropped a 15-8 decision on the road.
 
Castleton (0-4) made a furious comeback attempt in the second half, scoring five straight goals to end the third quarter and begin the fourth. After being outscored 8-1 in the first 15 minutes, the Spartans kept pace with the Pioneers (4-3) over the final 45 minutes as each side scored seven goals in that time. The Pioneers had a 28-12 edge in shots on goal and a 12-4 edge in ground balls in the game. Smith also won 19 draw controls to Castleton's eight. Each team had three successful clears.
 
Castleton was led by a five-point night from Lacey Greenamyre, who tallied two goals and three assists. Deena Jacunski and Tien Connor added two goals each, while Kimberly McCarthy and Madelyn Cote also tallied scores. Raven Payne stopped 13 shots in the cage and caused a game-high three turnovers in the contest.
 
Jennie Arancio and Gia Arancio had four points apiece for the Pioneers, with Jennie scoring three goals with an assist and Gia notching four goals. Bella DeAngelo and Sadie Tschider had two goals and one assist each. Stella Alphas grabbed 12 draw controls for the Pioneers and Alyssa Schams made three saves in goal.
 
Smith scored the first three goals of the game before Connor drove around the perimeter and buried a goal to make it a 3-1 contest. The Pioneers took over from there, scoring nine consecutive goals that spanned the end of the first quarter into the final six minutes of the second quarter. Jacunski broke up the stretch for the Spartans with a goal in traffic with 4:36 to play in the half, making it 12-2 at halftime.
 
Gia Arancio scored the first goal of the third quarter to make it 13-2 Pioneers, but Castleton turned up the offense with five unanswered goals of their own. Connor started the scoring midway through the third quarter before Jacunski, Greenamyre and McCarthy opened the fourth quarter with three straight goals. Greenamyre tacked on her second of the quarter with 7:42 to play to make it a 13-7 game. The Pioneers stopped the bleeding, but Cote answered back for Castleton to make it 14-8 with less than five minutes to play. Smith tacked on one final goal with two minutes left to make it a 15-8 final.
 
"This was another great game from our student-athletes," said head coach Jamie Blake. "We continue to improve through each quarter, playing better and better team lacrosse. These women are full of fire, grit and joy. Every game we continue to pound the stone. It is amazing to see who we are becoming as a result of the chase, and we're looking forward to a great home game on Saturday."
 
Castleton hosts Mitchell College at 3 p.m. Saturday at Dave Wolk Stadium.