PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Castleton University men's lacrosse team played Plymouth State even in the second half, but a first-half deficit was too much to overcome as the Spartans dropped a Little East Conference contest 16-9 on Wednesday night.
 
The Panthers (11-3, 4-2 LEC) outshot Castleton (4-10, 1-4 LEC) 44-40 overall and 32-24 on goal, while turnovers were nearly equal with Castleton committing 23 and Plymouth 21. Castleton went 20-of-28 on the clear while Plymouth was 18-of-22. The Panthers collected a 37-26 edge in ground balls and won 19-of-27 face-offs.
 
Cam Frankenhoff had a three-goal, one-assist day for the Spartans to lead the attack and tied with Gabe Rubio for a team-high five ground balls. Chris LaBonte and Casey Meczywor had two goals apiece while Ethan Esposito had a goal and an assist. Ian Edgar tallied a goal as well. Christopher Dindino made 16 saves in the contest.
 
Matt Miner had four goals and an assist for the Panthers while Jake Dolcimascolo and Mike Fleury added three goals apiece. Leif Charbonneau won 14-of-19 face-offs and collected eight ground balls. Owen McNichols made 14 saves in goal for Plymouth State.
 
Plymouth got on the board first just shy of four minutes into the game, but LaBonte buried a goal on a pass from Esposito to level the score at 1-1 less than two minutes later. The first quarter then tilted in the Panthers' favor as the hosts rattled off four unanswered goals for a 5-1 lead. Meczywor made it 5-2 before Fleury made it 6-2 after 15 minutes with a late goal for Plymouth.
 
Five consecutive goals to open the second quarter pushed the Panther lead to 11-2 before Castleton scored twice in a 38-second span to make it 11-4 going into the halftime break. Frankenhoff and Esposito scored the only goals of the third period for either team as Castleton drew closer at 11-6.
 
Plymouth broke its scoring drought in the fourth quarter, posting four straight goals to put the game out of reach at 15-6. LaBonte scored on a man-up chance before Frankenhoff netted two unanswered scores to make it 15-9. A final Panther goal in the last minute of action gave the game its 16-9 final score.
 
Castleton hosts Southern Maine on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Castleton's 10 seniors will be honored in advance of the contest with a Senior Day ceremony.