SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- The Castleton field hockey team dropped their season-opening contest at Union College, 5-0, on Thursday afternoon.

The host Dutchwomen (1-0), whose season opened at Castleton in 2021, denied the Spartans (0-1) a goal for a second consecutive meeting as Union buried three goals on 10 shots in the opening quarter. Kaitlin Bardellini attempted two shots with one on goal. Mya Martin also recorded a shot on goal in her first-career game as one of five freshman starters for Castleton. Peyton Richardson, Emily Harris, and Theresa Culpo each logged a shot. Hannah Frittenburg and Zoe Martin both spent 30 minutes in goal, facing a combined 13 shots on goal and with seven saves.

Finding the back of the net at 1:34, Union's Emily Dawson gave the Dutchwomen a quick, 1-0 lead. Sophie Ruhl found paydirt just a minute later in traffic as Megan Dorsey picked up her second assist of the day. Grace Krebs buried a goal at the ten-minute mark to make it a three-goal margin. The Spartans held Union scoreless until Dawson won a one-on-one to put in her second goal at 28:40 as the Dutchwomen went into halftime leading 4-0.

Harris attempted her lone shot of the game at the 35:11 mark, missing high. The Castleton defense prevented the Dutchwomen from getting a shot off in the third quarter, but would face a quintet of attempts in the final period. Bardellini and Culpo attempted fourth-quarter shots which were saved and wide, respectively. Freshman Zoe Martin made four saves in the quarter, but Alyssa Pavano's back-post goal at 53:21 made it 5-0.

The Spartans make their debut at Dave Wolk Stadium on Saturday, September 3 as they host the Elms Blazers at 1 p.m.