DANBURY, Conn. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team took on a tough Western Connecticut State team on Saturday, falling 16-1 to the defending Little East Conference champions in road action.
The Spartans (1-8, 0-2 LEC) hung tough in the early going, but WestConn (8-3, 2-0 LEC) pulled away late in the first quarter and never looked back. WestConn had a 30-5 edge in shots on goal, a 15-6 edge in draw controls and a 35-16 edge in ground balls. Castleton was 16-of-31 on the clear in the contest.
Kimberly McCarthy scored Castleton's only goal, assisted by
Ryanne Mix. McCarthy also grabbed three draw controls and two ground balls.
Lacey Greenamyre had three ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw control in the contest.
Deena Jacunski had two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Raven Payne amassed 14 saves in goal for the Spartans and had one ground ball.
Dominique DeMarsico and Alexa Riggio had five points apiece, DeMarsico on two goals and three assists and Riggio on four goals and a helper. Vicky Gracy also had three goals. Colleen Foley had five ground balls while three others had four. Meghan Lorenzen had six caused turnovers and six draw controls. Molly Bresnahan played the final three quarters, stopping all four shots she faced.
WestConn notched the first three goals of the game, but Castleton scored midway through the first quarter to make it a 3-1 game. Mix drove in on the right side before dishing across the lane to McCarthy, who one-timed the shot past the WestConn goalie. WestConn scored three more times before the end of the quarter for a 6-1 lead after 15 minutes.
The second quarter was all WestConn, as the lead grew to 12-1 at halftime. Castleton put three shots on goal in the third quarter in an attempt to narrow the deficit, but Bresnahan stopped all three attempts to keep Castleton off the board. WestConn scored just three times in the third quarter and once in the fourth as Castleton's defense toughened up in the second half.
The Spartans are back in action for the first game of a four-game homestand on Wednesday night when they host Mount Saint Mary in a non-conference battle at 6 p.m.
