PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Castleton University hit the road for Little East Conference action on Wednesday night, dropping the penultimate game of the regular season to Plymouth State 18-2.
 
The Spartans (2-12, 1-5 LEC) are now set up for a crucial game on Saturday, needing a win over UMass Dartmouth to make the LEC Championship Tournament. The Panthers (11-4, 5-1) continue their impressive season and will be the No. 2 seed in the LEC playoffs. Plymouth State outshot Castleton 46-4 and won the ground ball battle 40-30. The Panthers also won 20-of-23 draw controls.
 
Kimberly McCarthy scored both goals for Castleton and grabbed three ground balls and two draw controls. Both goals came from free-position shots for McCarthy. Raven Payne grabbed a team-high eight ground balls, with Tien Connor and Katie Opiela adding five each. Matilda Gutke caused two turnovers. Payne finished the night with 12 saves in goal for the Spartans.
 
Emily Santom led the Panther attack with 10 points on seven goals and three assists, with Tarryn O'Brien adding four goals and an assist for five points. Devon Mellow had six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Julia Mahoney collected 13 draw controls. Neither Panther goalie made a save in the contest.
 
The Panthers got on the board first, with Santom giving the hosts an early lead, but McCarthy answered to make it 1-1 with 10:06 to play in the first. Neither team scored over the next eight minutes, but the Panthers scored three times in the final 2:26 of the first quarter to take a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes.
 
The second quarter was all Plymouth State, as the Panthers scored seven more times to make it 11-1 and push the game into running time going into the break. McCarthy stopped the clock less than two minutes into the second half, making it 11-2 with her second free-position goal of the game, but Plymouth responded three minutes later to push the lead back to 10 goals.
 
The gap continued to grow as the Panthers closed the third quarter leading 15-2 and tacked on three goals in the final frame to make it 18-2 final.
 
Castleton travels to UMass Dartmouth Saturday afternoon for a critical game at 3 p.m.