CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team hosted in-state rival Norwich on Wednesday night at Dave Wolk Stadium, falling by a final score of 15-5 after a big second half by the Cadets.
 
The Spartans (1-7) were within a goal at halftime, 5-4, but Norwich (7-2) outpaced Castleton 10-1 over the final 30 minutes to pull away for the win. Shots were 34-28 in favor of Norwich, while turnovers were nearly even with Norwich committing 29 and Castleton 27. Both cleared the ball equally, Castleton converting 19 and Norwich 20, while Castleton won the ground-ball battle, 27-25. The Cadets won 16 draw controls to Castleton's eight.
 
Maddie Brasser netted two goals on the night, one of which came on a free-position shot. Lacey Greenamyre added two points on a goal and an assist while contributing four caused turnovers, three ground balls and three draw controls. Ryanne Mix and Kimberly McCarthy each found the back of the net as well. McCarthy grabbed six ground balls with four caused turnovers and Mix had five ground balls with three caused turnovers. Raven Payne racked up 13 saves and caused three turnovers with three ground balls in the contest.
 
Maddie Etherton and Michaila Furchak had five points apiece for Norwich, Etherton's total coming from three goals and two assists while Furchak had two goals and three helpers. Emma O'Neill had a hat trick, while Julia Proto, Allison Sturgeon and Valentina Drown had two goals each. Brittany Poljacik had six ground balls, Proto nabbed five draw controls. Katie Bishop-Manning stopped 11 shots in goal in the win.
 
Castleton jumped out to an immediate lead in the contest, winning the opening draw and working the ball downfield. Greenamyre found a cutting Brasser for a one-timer that beat the Cadet keeper for a 1-0 Spartan edge. McCarthy added to Castleton's lead with a free-position goal with just under 10 minutes to play in the first quarter, making it 2-0 Spartans. The two-goal advantage lasted until the five-minute mark of the quarter when Norwich got on the board with Furchak's first goal. Etherton then tied the game with just 44 seconds to play in the quarter before Sturgeon gave Norwich a 3-2 edge 20 seconds later.
 
Castleton leveled the score at 3-3 less than a minute into quarter two, as Brasser scored on a free-position shot. The Cadets tallied back-to-back scores for a 5-3 lead midway through the second, but Greenamyre found the back of the net with just under seven minutes to go before halftime to make it 5-4. Neither side scored again in the quarter as the Cadets carried the one-goal lead to the second half.
 
The third quarter was all Norwich, with the Cadets blanking Castleton out of halftime with a 5-0 frame. They added five more to the lead to start the fourth to make it 15-4 before Mix netted a free-position score with 3:20 to go.
 
Castleton returns to action Saturday at home against LEC foe WestConn. Opening draw is at 1 p.m.