WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team opened up the 2023 season on Wednesday night, falling 21-9 on the road to the University of St. Joseph (Conn.).
 
The Spartans had an 18-14 edge in draw controls and ground balls were even, 36-36, but USJ held a 30-20 edge in shots on goal and scored four free-position goals in the contest. Turnovers were nearly even, with Castleton committing 28 and USJ 24.
 
Kimberly McCarthy started the season where she ended the last, racking up six points on four goals and two assists. She also had four ground balls and four draw controls in the contest. Tien Connor scored twice with an assist, while Lacey Greenamyre dished out three assists and grabbed seven draw controls. Megan Ward had a team-high nine ground balls. Katie Opiela made nine saves in goal.
 
Makenzie Dinger racked up 10 goals for USJ with 10 ground balls as well. Ashley Rufo chipped in four goals and two assists while Lauryn Wilks had three goals and an assist. Rufo led the Blue Jays with six draw controls. Colleen Stringer made 10 saves in the win for USJ.
 
The Blue Jays scored the first two goals of the game, but Connor got Castleton on the board six minutes in on an assist from McCarthy. After a four-goal run by USJ, the Spartans tallied the last goal of the opening quarter when McCarthy netted her first of the night from Greenamyre.
 
The Blue Jays extended the lead to 8-2 in the second before Maddie Brasser netted her first goal of the season on an assist from Madelyn Cote. USJ scored the next four, but MCarthy again got on the board from Greenamyre to make it 12-4 late in the first half. USJ scored twice before the break to go into halftime leading 14-4.
 
Greenamyre once again found McCarthy early in the third quarter, and Connor netted her second of the night to make it a 14-6 game just over a minute into the third. After a USJ goal made it 15-6, Castleton scored two more to cut the gap to 15-8. Ward netted her first career goal with Castleton a player down, and Phoebe Loomis followed with a short-handed goal as well for the first score of her career. USJ scored the final two goals of the third to make it 17-8 going to the last.
 
McCarthy scored Castleton's lone goal in the fourth, also a player-down marker, while Dinger scored four times in the final 15 minutes for USJ. In total, Dinger scored the last six goals for the Blue Jays in the contest.
 
Castleton is slated to host Colby-Sawyer on Saturday at 1 p.m.