CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team led deep into the fourth quarter, but a late comeback by Plymouth State saw the Spartans on the wrong end of a 10-7 final score in Little East Conference action at Dave Wolk Stadium.
The Spartans (1-12, 1-4 LEC) and Panthers (5-9, 2-4 LEC) were close on the stat sheet, with the teams posting similar numbers in clears, ground balls and turnovers. Plymouth State held a 13-8 edge in face-off wins and 26-14 edge in shots on goal.
Chris LaBonte led the Spartan attack with a hat trick, pushing his season count to a team-leading 22 goals. He also led the team with six ground balls.
Cam Frankenhoff added two goals and an assist for three points, while
Hunter Sarro had a goal and an assist.
Colter McComas also found the back of the net, while
Dawson Nalette and
Griffin Weller added assists.
Luc Issa had four ground balls, while
Finn Miller went 7-of-19 on face-offs.
Chris Wilk stopped 14 shots in the contest for Castleton in goal.
The Panther comeback was sparked by a halftime change in goal, as Owen McNichols came on in the second half and stopped seven of Castleton's eight shots on goal in the final 30 minutes, helping Plymouth State erase a three-goal halftime deficit. Nolan Burke had four goals and an assist, while Nick Drew added three helpers for the Panthers. Riley Roy and Mike Fleury had two goals each.
Castleton got on the board first, as Frankenhoff scored just a minute and a half into play. Both sides played scoreless lacrosse for more than six minutes before Burke drew the Panthers level at 1-1. LaBonte notched his first of the game for the Spartans with 3:26 to play in the first quarter, giving Castleton a 2-1 lead after 15 minutes of play.
Plymouth tied the game quickly in the second quarter, but Castleton scored the next two goals—one from Sarro and one from LaBonte—to take a 4-2 lead. After Roy scored on a man-up opportunity for the Panthers to make it 4-3, Castleton scored back-to-back goals once more, as LaBonte completed his first-half hat-trick and Frankenhoff notched his second to make it 6-3 Castleton at halftime.
The Panthers made it 6-4 late in the third quarter, notching the only score of the frame for either team.
Going to the final 15 minutes, Castleton pushed its lead back to three goals when McComas netted his fourth goal of the year, making it 7-4. That was the last tally for the Spartans, however, as Plymouth State rattled off six unanswered goals over the final 13 minutes to cap the come-from-behind win, 10-7.
Castleton is back in action Saturday at Southern Maine at 2 p.m.
