GORHAM, Me – Vermont State University Castleton field hockey fell to No.1 Southern Maine on overtime, 2-1 in the Little East Conference semifinals.
 
No. 4 VTSU Castleton traveled to No.1 South Maine in a rematch of last year's LEC final. The winner of this match would go on to play in the LEC final once again. The whistle blew and the intensity was brought between the two teams.
 
Starting the game off hot, senior forward Emily Harris got the ball rolling for the Spartans with an early goal to take a 1-0 lead. This was Harris' national leading 47th goal of the year. After Harris' goal, the Huskies brought the offensive pressure to the Spartans. The Huskies outshot the Spartans 13-9 and earned nine of their 10 penalty corners in the first half. Castleton found themselves with a penalty corner opportunity in the first quarter where they almost capitalized off of to extend their lead but the Huskies defense cluttered over the ball and turned them away. Then, with just a switch of the field, Southern Maine found themselves in the same spot as the Spartans with a penalty corner opportunity. Just like the Huskies once before, the Spartans swatted multiple chances away from the Huskies, who were looking for their first score of the game.
 
Hannah Frittenburg held her ground during the Huskies offensive attack, making five saves in the first quarter and following up with another four in the second to shut out the Huskies in the first half.
 
After an offensive dominated first half, the defense took over for both teams in the second half. There wasn't a spot on the field that Amelia Wilson didn't cover today. Wilson lugged back and forth all game long to keep the momentum going for the Spartans. However, Wilson and the defense would let one slip by them, as Southern Maine's Brooke Carson would bury one past Frittenburg to even the score. After Carson's goal, the remainder of the game was battled out in the middle of the field. With each team intercepting each other's passes and preventing any offensive attack to generate. In the final minutes of the game's regulation, the Spartans picked up a controversial yellow card, that would put the Spartans down a man for five minutes, which leaked over into overtime.
 
The match was much like a replica of last year's LEC final, as the two teams found themselves heading into overtime once again with a 1-1 draw. However, the Spartans started this overtime a man down after being assessed a yellow card. The Huskies would take advantage of the man up opportunity and proceeded to drive right down to Castleton's cage. Frittenburg pounced out of her cage to make a great first save but found herself to out of position, as Carson found the rebound and cashed in the open goal opportunity to win it for the Huskies.
 
Today's loss reflects the valiant effort the Spartans had all season long, as the 2023 season comes to an end.