CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team battled former North Atlantic Conference rival Colby-Sawyer on Monday night, falling 20-7 to the Chargers at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
Castleton falls to 1-4 on the season while Colby-Sawyer reaches the .500 mark at 3-3. The Chargers held a 33-12 edge in shots on goal, a 39-22 edge in ground balls and a 22-9 edge in draw controls. Both teams committed a plethora of turnovers, with Colby-Sawyer making 30 miscues and Castleton compiling 34.
 
Tien Connor led Castleton with four points in the game on two goals and two assists, while Phoebe Loomis notched her second straight hat trick with a three-goal night. Megan Ward and Kimberly McCarthy added goals in the contest. McCarthy, one game after setting the Castleton single-game scoring record, reached a career milestone as she collected her 100th ground ball. Ward led the team with six ground-ball pick-ups, five draw controls and three caused turnovers. Katie Opiela made 13 saves in goal for Castleton.
 
Colby-Sawyer received six goals and an assist from the stick of Sophia Kuhlthau, while Heather Hanson added four goals and three assists for a seven-point night of her own. Sydney Stevens had four goals and an assist to pair with her game-high seven ground balls. Hanson led all players with nine draw controls. AJ Paton stopped two shots in 45 minutes of play to earn the win in goal, while Simone Long stopped three of four shots in the final 15 minutes.
 
Castleton scored first in the contest as Ward opened the scoring off a pass from Connor just three minutes in. Colby-Sawyer leveled the score two minutes later, but Loomis scored just 14 seconds later to make it 2-1 Castleton. Back-to-back Charger goals gave Colby-Sawyer its first lead of the day, but Connor scored her first of the night to make it 3-3 midway through the opening quarter. The Chargers added two more to open up a 5-3 edge before Loomis' second of the quarter made it 5-4 after one.
 
Colby-Sawyer opened up an 11-4 lead at halftime after a 6-0 burst in the second quarter, but Castleton scored the first two goals of the second half when Loomis and McCarthy potted back-to-back scored less than three minutes apart to make it 11-6. The Chargers responded with six unanswered goals for a 17-6 edge before Connor broke the streak with an unassisted score for a 17-7 gap. Colby-Sawyer scored the final three goals of the evening for a 20-7 final score.
 
Castleton returns to action Wednesday night at Norwich at 7 p.m.