NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team used a well-rounded effort to top in-state rival Norwich by a final score of 15-12 on Wednesday night at Sabine Field.
The Spartans jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, leading the entirety of the night en route to their second win of the season. Castleton is now 2-4 overall while Norwich sits at 1-5. The Cadets outshot Castleton 31-29 overall and 20-17 on goal, but the Spartans made those shots count, scoring on 15-of-17 on-target attempts. Norwich had a 15-10 edge in ground balls and both sides collected 15 draw controls.
Kimberly McCarthy netted another career milestone in the victory, using a five-point night to hit 100 points in her career. She netted four goals with an assist while also adding a pair of caused turnovers.
Tien Connor had four points on two goals and two assists while
Lacey Greenamyre,
Phoebe Loomis and
Megan Ward all had hat-tricks. For Loomis, it was the third game in a row the rookie tallied three goals; for Greenamyre and Ward, it was the first hat-trick of the season for both players. Ward also had four ground balls and an impressive six caused turnovers. Greenamyre caused four turnovers and snagged a team-best seven draw controls.
Katie Opiela stopped eight shots in the Spartans' tightest game of the season to earn the win in goal.
Norwich was led by six points from Michaila Furchak and five from Athena Merck. Furchack had four goals and two assists while Merck added three goals and two helpers. Maeve Noble-Lowe made just two saves in the contest for the Cadets.
Castleton got off the bus ready to run, as Loomis scored just 10 seconds into the night to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. McCarthy doubled the advantage to two goals and then made it a three-goal lead with back-to-back scores. Connor scored on a player-up opportunity before Greenamyre's first made it 5-0 Spartans late in the frame. Norwich tallied a goal with 11 seconds left to make it 5-1, but Loomis bookended the quarter with a last-second score just before the horn to give the Spartans a 6-1 lead after 15 minutes.
Ward picked up where Loomis left off in the second quarter, scoring just 27 seconds into the frame for a 7-1 lead. The Cadets controlled the pace for the ensuing 10 minutes, however, posting four unanswered goals to pull within two, 7-5. Connor stopped the drought for Castleton with another player-up goal, but Norwich tallied one final goal before halftime for an 8-6 score at the break.
The third quarter began with a Norwich score as well, making it 8-7, but McCarthy netted her third of the game to give Castleton a touch of breathing room. Norwich bounced back with another goal from the stick of Merck, but Loomis answered 30 seconds later and Ward netted back-to-back goals just 30 seconds apart herself to extend the lead to 12-8. Merck's tally late in the third made the score 12-9 heading to the final 15 minutes.
Castleton pushed its lead to 14-9 as Greenamyre potted back-to-back goals in the opening minutes of the quarter. A Furchak goal closed it to 14-10 before McCarthy made it 15-10 with her fourth goal of the night. Norwich scored twice more before the final horn, but it was not enough to close the gap the Spartans created as the game closed in a 15-12 win for Castleton.
The Spartans are on the road once more on Saturday when they travel to Mount St. Mary for a noon contest.
