CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team took to the field on a rain-soaked day Saturday against Little East Conference for Eastern Connecticut, falling 18-6 to the Warriors at Dave Wolk Stadium.
The Spartans (1-10, 0-3 LEC) dedicated the game to Morgan's Message, a non-profit organization that strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics. Morgan's Message aims to expand the dialogue on mental health by normalizing conversations, empowering those who suffer in silence, and supporting those who feel alone. For more information, visit the Morgan's Message website.
Eastern Connecticut (7-4, 1-2 LEC) outshot Castleton 54-12 on the day, with a 37-7 edge in shots on goal. Castleton had 16 successful clears to ECSU's 14, but the Warriors controlled the ground-ball battle 52-29 and won 19 draw controls to Castleton's eight.
Tien Connor notched her first career hat-trick for Castleton in the contest, scoring three times while also collecting four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Lacey Greenamyre had a pair of assists and four caused turnovers to go along with six draw controls, while
Deena Jacunski,
Ryanne Mix and
Kimberly McCarthy all notched goals for the Spartans. McCarthy had a team-high seven ground balls in the game. Mix and
Maddie Brasser caused three turnovers each, with Brasser also adding an assist.
Raven Payne racked up 19 saves in goal, tying a career-high and coming within three saves of the Spartans' single-game record.
Caroline Stent had a big day, tallying 11 points on eight goals and three assists. She also had 11 draw controls, seven ground balls and six caused turnovers. Jessie Pyrek-Bennett had three goals and two assists for five points, while Shay Ventresca notched five points of her own—all from assists. Kaylea McCourt and Abby Parisi had two goals apiece, with McCourt collecting a game-high eight ground balls. Warrior goalie Emma Alford stopped just one shot in the win, allowing six goals on seven shots.
Eastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead within three minutes, but Castleton responded with a free-position goal by Connor to halve the lead to 2-1. The Warriors retaliated for a 3-1 lead 90 seconds later, before both teams went scoreless for nearly six minutes. With 4:44 to play in the opening quarter, Stent notched her third goal of the game that started a six-goal barrage over the ensuing two minutes, ending in a 9-1 lead for Eastern. Castleton answered with two goals of its own to end the quarter, as Connor scored her second and Mix got on the board—both assisted by Greenamyre.
The second period was tightly contested, with Eastern opening the frame with two goals for an 11-3 lead before Castleton hit back with two goals of its own from the sticks of Jacunski and Connor, making it 11-5. The Warriors put one more score on the board before halftime, taking a 12-5 lead to the break.
The third quarter was much like the second, as Eastern opened with three goals before Castleton scored on a nice catch-and-shoot by McCarthy, who buried a feed from Brasser to make it 15-6. The Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter, scoring three more times to seal the 18-6 win.
The Spartans are back in action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they host Keene State in LEC action.
