CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team dropped a 19-8 non-conference contest to Russell Sage College on Saturday at home at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
The Spartans fall to 0-3 with the loss while Sage improves to 2-1. The Gators outshot Castleton 48-19 with a 29-14 edge in shots on goal. The Spartans committed 31 turnovers and converted just 8-of-25 clear attempts while Sage had 17 miscues and went 15-of-17 clearing. The Gators collected 34 ground balls to Castleton's 16 in the contest. The Spartans held a 16-14 edge in draw controls including 10 from Lacey Greenamyre, who moved into fourth-place in program history and sits at 163 for her career. Greenamyre has surpassed both Megan Wood '19 and Brandi Whittemore '16 this season on her climb up the all-time ranks, with Angelica Mazzola '12 next in her sights at 210.
 
Kimberly McCarthy netted her third hat trick of the season, scoring three times for the Spartans. Tien Connor added two goals and assist while Madelyn Cote had a multi-point game with a goal and an assist. Megan Ward and Maddie Brasser also had scores and Greenamyre chipped in an assist to go with her 10 draw controls and three caused turnovers. Cote and Colleen Sheridan led the team with three ground balls apiece, and Katie Opiela stopped 10 shots in goal.
 
Grace Hines racked up seven goals and an assist for Sage, while Alexandra Queeney had five goals, two assists and nine draw controls. Caroline Musinski added three goals and two assists to go with a game-high seven ground balls. Maddie Walsh made six saves in goal.
 
Castleton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in less than three minutes, as Connor and McCarthy scored unassisted to open the day. The Gators went on a seven-goal run from there that spanned the remainder of the first quarter and the first five minutes of the second until McCarthy broke the run with her second goal of the game to make it 7-3. Ward's player-up goal five minutes later made it a 7-4 game, but Sage rattled off three more goals to extend its lead to 10-4 late in the first half. Brasser found the back of the net with 2:06 to go in the second to make it a 10-5 game at halftime.
 
The teams traded scores out of the halftime break, with Sage scoring first before McCarthy completed the hat trick on an assist from Greenamyre. After another Gator goal made it 12-6, Cote scored on the player-advantage for a 12-7 deficit. Sage then kick-started a five-goal run to extend its lead to 17-7, but Connor quickly answered with an unassisted score to cut it back to 17-8. The Gators tacked on the final two goals of the game to end the afternoon on top, 19-8.
 
Castleton returns to action next Saturday, March 18, at Mitchell College. Game time is slated for 2 p.m.