CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team opened its Little East Conference slate against Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, falling 19-6 at Dave Wolk Stadium.
Castleton goalie
Christopher Dindino racked up an impressive 29 saves in the contest, the most by any Spartan in at least the last 18 seasons. Entering Saturday's slate, only two other goalies in NCAA Division III had made 29 or more saves in a single game this season. Despite the heavy volume, Dindino stopped 60.4% of shots on goal, his fourth time crossing the 60% threshold this spring.
The field was tilted in favor of WestConn (7-1, 1-0 LEC) as the Wolves put up 73 shots with 48 on goal. The Spartans (1-6, 0-1 LEC) had 26 shots with 16 on frame. Castleton had 30 turnovers to WestConn's 17 and went 17-of-31 on the clear while the Wolves cashed in on 19-of-23 clears. WestConn had a 51-34 ground ball advantage as well, thanks in part to a 19-10 edge in face-off wins.
Dawson Nalette and
Ian Edgar had a goal and an assist each, while
Casey Meczywor,
Chris LaBonte,
Cam Frankenhoff and
Ethan Esposito added goals as well.
Sean Kimura tallied an assist. Edgar, Meczywor, LaBonte and
Gabe Rubio had four ground balls each to tie for the team lead. In addition to his gaudy save numbers, Dindino caused a pair of turnovers and had two ground balls of his own.
WestConn's Matt Sweeney racked up five goals and three assists while Julian Duque and Benjamin Hawthorne had two goals and three assists each for five points. Donald Schaumloffel scored four times. Brendan Grove played the first 45 minutes in goal, making eight saves in the win.
The Wolves rattled off four goals in a row to start the game, but Castleton got on the board when LaBonte collected his own rebound and finished at point-blank range for a 4-1 score. The Spartans then received back-to-back goals from Frankenhoff and Meczywor early in the second quarter to make it 6-3, but WestConn tacked on four in a row for a 10-3 edge. Nalette's late score in the second quarter made it 10-4 at the half.
The Wolves began to pull away in the third quarter, scoring the first three goals of the frame for a 13-4 edge. Edgar broke the drought for Castleton but two more WCSU goals made it 15-4 in favor of the road team before Esposito potted Castleton's final goal of the day late in the third. WestConn netted the final four goals of the contest for a 19-6 victory.
Castleton hosts SUNY Canton on Wednesday evening at 4 p.m. at Dave Wolk Stadium in non-conference action.
