CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's lacrosse team saw its season come to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling 19-8 to UMass Dartmouth in the Little East Conference contest.
 
The game had postseason implications, with the Corsairs (8-7, 2-5 LEC) claiming the final playoff spot in the LEC with the win, while Castleton finished seventh in the LEC standings (4-12, 1-6 LEC). Castleton honored seven seniors before the game, with four of them registering at least one point in the game. Tien Connor had two goals and an assist, Maddie Brasser and Madelyn Cote scored once each and Lacey Greenamyre had an assist. Phoebe Loomis had two points on a goal and an assist and Megan Ward scored twice. Ward also had eight ground balls and four caused turnovers. Greenamyre finished with eight draw controls. Katie Opiela collected six saves in the game.
 
UMass Dartmouth held a 35-34 edge in shots in the game, but Castleton had a 26-25 edge in shots on goal. The Corsairs committed 25 turnovers to Castleton's 23. Castleton was 12-of-16 clearing and UMass Dartmouth went 16-of-27. The Spartans had a 28-23 edge in ground balls while draw controls were even 15-15.
 
Maddie Wright had a game-high eight points on seven goals and an assist, while Melanny Sanchez Alvarez chipped in six points on four goals and two helpers. Natalia Agrelo had five points—all goals. Wright also collected seven ground balls and five draw controls. Payton Conceicao made 18 saves in the contest, eight of which came in the fourth quarter with Castleton applying heavy pressure.
 
The Corsairs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first nine-plus minutes of play before Loomis got Castleton on the board. Cote then followed with another goal to make it 3-2 just 20 seconds later. The Corsairs scored two more to end the first quarter and the first two goals of the second to pull ahead 7-2 before Castleton rattled of back-to-back scores again, this time from McCarthy and Connor, to make it 7-4. Two UMass Dartmouth goals made it a 9-4 game but Brasser scored to make it 9-5. That score held until just before halftime, when Sanchez Alvarez found the back of the net with four seconds to play before the break.
 
The Corsairs scored the first six goals of the second half, shutting Castleton out 6-0 in the third quarter. Castleton's offense came to life in the fourth, putting 11 shots on goal as the team attempted to come back from its 16-5 deficit. Conceicao prevented that, stopping eight shots while allowing only three goals in the final 15 minutes. After Ward's goal, the Corsairs rattled off three scores to go ahead 19-6. Ward scored again with 2:10 to play and Connor closed the game with a second score for a 19-8 final.
 
The Spartans honored seven seniors ahead of Saturday's game: Matia Gioeli, Megan Brier, Brasser, Cote, Opiela, Connor and Greenamyre.