GORHAM, Maine – Vermont State University Castleton was defeated by top-seeded Southern Maine in the Little East Conference semi-final, 2-0 on Thursday.

Britney and Cierra Hill scored Southern Maine's goals to eliminate the Spartans and move on to the LEC final. Emma Ezzo rallied for another strong performance, making nine saves in the defeat.

Castleton played a strong defensive game to keep the Huskies from connecting on multiple opportunities early in the game. Lauren Fotter, Gwen Bridges, Kristina O'Neil, and Maddie Lindgren held down the defensive line for Castleton for the entirety of the match.

The Huskies controlled the ball well and limited Castleton's possession in their defensive zone. Alexis Billings was able to find a look at the net in the 16th minute and rifled a shot but it was saved by the Huskies.

The two sides battled in a scoreless fight until the 66th minute when B.Hill took a shot from outside the box and placed the ball perfectly to the top corner outside Ezzo's reach to open the scoring.

Southern Maine went on to find another goal in the 76th minute from a corner kick, where Catriona Gould connected with C.Hill on the cross to put a shot towards the far side and hit the back of the net to put the score to 2-0.

With the final minutes dwindling, Castleton tried to rally and find an opportunity to get them back into the game but the Huskies held on and were able to put away the Spartans and move on to the LEC final on Saturday.

VTSU Castleton concludes their 2024 campaign going 9-11-1 and 4-5 in the conference.