CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team picked up its first win of the season in dominant fashion Saturday afternoon, scoring just more than a minute into the game and never relinquishing the lead en route to a 24-16 victory over Salem State in Little East Conference action.
 
The Spartans (1-9, 1-1 LEC) had six players with four or more points in the contest, highlighted by a nine-point outing from Sean Kimura. Kimura had five goals and four assists to pair with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Each of those marks set or tied career-best marks for Kimura. Ryan Palmisano won 20-of-23 face-offs and racked up 10 ground balls while doing so—both marks that set new career-highs. Casey Meczywor had a career-best five goals in the contest, while Hunter Sarro set new career-high marks in goals and points with four goals and six points in the win.
 
Chris LaBonte notched his second hat-trick in a row and his third hat-trick of the season with three goals on the day, and he also added three assists for a career-high six-point outing. He also had a season-high nine ground balls in the contest. Dawson Nalette totaled five points on two goals and a career-high three assists in the game. Ethan Esposito notched his first career hat-trick, powering home three goals. Collin Johnson scored just one time, but dished out three helpers in the contest. Dylan Davis also got on the score sheet for Castleton, and Colter McComas dished out an assist. Finn Miller mirrored Palmisano's success at the face-off dot, winning 17-of-20 with nine ground balls. Zac Smith got the start in goal, playing the first quarter and departing with a 6-4 lead before giving way to Chris Wilk over the final 45 minutes. Wilk stopped 13 shots and allowed 12 goals over the final three quarters of play.
 
Salem State's (5-5, 0-3 LEC) Kevin Albert had seven points on four goals and three assists, while Patrick Guinee added three goals and three assists. Lake Fleming scored four times and Sam Cioffi three times. Albert also led the team with six ground balls, while Kyle Tammaro had five caused turnovers. Zach Royal stopped 19 shots in goal for the Vikings.
 
The Spartans' 24 goals were Castleton's most in a contest since a 26-goal outing against Green Mountain College in 2014. Castleton attempted 77 shots in the contest, putting 43 on frame. Salem State took 44 shots, 33 of those going on goal. The Spartans had 60 ground balls in the game, the most in a single contest since the 2017 season. Castleton won 86.0 percent of face-offs as a team, claiming 37-of-43 chances on the day.
 
Kimura opened the scoring with an early goal for Castleton before Sarro delivered a second goal for the Spartans less than a minute later. Cioffi got Salem State on the board to halve the lead, but Castleton rattled off three unanswered for a 5-1 lead. After two Viking goals made it 5-3, Meczywor scored on the man-advantage for a 6-3 edge. Salem State tacked on a late goal to end the first quarter with Castleton ahead 6-4.
 
The Vikings opened the scoring in the second quarter, with Guinee cutting the Spartans' lead to just one goal, 6-5, 75 seconds into the frame. The Spartans scored seven unanswered goals from there to take a commanding lead, 13-5, highlighted by three goals from Meczywor and two from LaBonte in that stretch. A last-minute goal by Salem State sent the game to halftime with Castleton on top 13-6.
 
The third quarter was an offensive barrage for both teams, as the two sides combined for 15 goals in the third stanza alone. Salem State never strung together consecutive goals, however, as Castleton slowly grew its lead to 22-12 through 45 minutes. Kimura had three goals in the third quarter.
 
Salem State closed the gap ever-so-slightly in the final quarter, but the game was well in-hand from the start of the frame for Castleton. Cioffi scored just nine seconds into the final quarter, but Nalette answered for Castleton just two minutes later. After another Salem State goal, Davis got in on the scoring for a 24-14 lead for Castleton. The Vikings scored the last two tallies of the game in the final minute to make it 24-16.
 
The Spartans are back in action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they host Keene State at Dave Wolk Stadium.