CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team dropped a Little East Conference matchup to Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday by a final score of 19-9 at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
The Spartans (4-9, 1-3 LEC) hung tough in the second half, with ECSU (5-8, 2-3 LEC) holding a 9-8 edge in the final 30 minutes of play, but a 10-1 deficit at halftime was too much to overcome for Castleton. The Warriors outshot Castleton 58-38 (32-23 on goal) and had a 45-28 edge in ground balls. Eastern also won 19-of-32 face-offs and was 15-of-19 on the clear. Castleton went 19-of-27 clearing the ball.
 
Dawson Nalette had a career day for Castleton, racking up five goals and an assist for six total points. It was the biggest single-game offensive output this season for a Castleton player in both goals and total points. Chris LaBonte and Ethan Esposito added a goal and an assist each with Ian Edgar and Hunter Sarro adding goals as well.  Gabe Rubio had an assist. Nalette and Matt Mumford tied for the team lead with three ground balls each and Mumford led all Spartans with three caused turnovers. Christopher Dindino made 13 saves in the contest.
 
Eastern's Jonathan Bernier netted five goals of his own to pair with two assists for seven total points. Warren Channing and Tim Lichack had three goals apiece and Garrett Lapham had two goals and three helpers. Domenic Scarano had a big day on defense, collecting 11 ground balls and causing two turnovers. He also had a goal and an assist. Scott Galbo was 10-of-13 on face-offs and Nick Collazo made 14 saves in goal.
 
The Warriors marched out to a 9-0 lead before Nalette got Castleton on the board with 2:23 to play in the second quarter. Bernier scored his third of the game just 30 seconds later, however, sending ECSU into halftime ahead 10-1.
 
Castleton scored the first goal of the second half, as Esposito found the back of the net with a goal just 38 seconds into the third quarter. Four more goals by Eastern pushed the Spartan deficit to 14-2, but a 4-1 run by the Spartans that featured a goal from LaBonte and three from Nalette made it 15-6 going into the final 15 minutes.
 
The teams alternated scores the entirety of the fourth quarter, with Eastern pushing its lead to 10 before Castleton cut it back to nine on three different occasions. Goals by Nalette, Sarro and Edgar in the fourth were answered each time by the Warriors, who finished the day on top 19-9.
 
Castleton is back in action Wednesday night at Plymouth State at 6 p.m.