CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton field hockey team rode a four-score outing from Emily Harris to trounce Framingham State, 9-0, on Saturday night for a homecoming weekend victory.
Seven of the 14 shots issued by the Spartans were by Harris, who found paydirt on four occasions. Kaitlin Bardellini notched her name on the scoresheet twice early in the first and second quarters. Amelie Steinel collected her second career goal, while Tessa Rubocki and Peyton Richardson put in their first scores of the season. Zoe Martin was flawless in goal, saving six Ram shots and posting her first career solo shutout.
The Spartans took the lead almost immediately as Bardellini buried a pass from Harris in front of the cage just 41 seconds into the contest. Harris scored twice and Steinel also picked up a goal in the first quarter, all off shot rebounds in the Rams' goal. To begin the second quarter, the Spartans drew a penalty stroke that Bardellini slammed home as the squad erupted and embraced their senior captain. About four minutes later, senior Tessa Rubocki maneuvered her way around a scramble in front of the goal to give Castleton a 6-0 lead at halftime.
Framingham State narrowly avoided another half-opening goal, this time from Harris off a corner, as backup goalkeeper Kaitlin Loughlin made a heady save at 13:35. However, the junior captain would not be denied as Harris tied Bardellini's five-goal total for the year on a penalty that moved the gap to six. Less than two minutes later, Harris struck again on a rebounded shot from Bardellini to finish the day with nine points, her highest mark since a career-high 14-point outing against Russell Sage last season.
After dishing out a pair of assists against Elms, Richardson finally recorded her first career goal with eight minutes remaining to put the score at 9-0 where it would remain. Martin closed out the night with six saves, denying a pair that were on goal inside the four-minute mark. The freshman from Haverhill, Mass. played her first full game between the posts and logged her first unassisted clean sheet to improve her record to 2-0.
Castleton is back in action on the road next week, traveling to RPI on Wednesday, September 14. Opening pass-back against the Engineers is slated for 6 p.m.
