CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton field hockey team fell to No. 2 Keene State 3-2 Saturday evening in the Little East Conference championship game.
No. 1 VTSU Castleton opened up the scoring with
Jess Smithson finding
Haley Lassen for a hard shot off the post and into the cage to put the Spartans up 1-0 three minutes into the first quarter. The Owls responded quickly, with Meghan Daileanes finding the back of the cage just two minutes later to tie the game five minutes in. The Owls scored their second goal of the night with five minutes left in the first quarter to take a 2-1 lead before scoring what would eventually be the game-winning goal with three minutes left in the first quarter to go up 3-1.
The second quarter saw the Spartans with two penalty corner opportunities to the Owls one, but could not convert, the Owls headed into halftime with a 3-1 lead. The third quarter was much of the same with the two teams trading shots back-and-forth. The Owls outshot the Spartans 4-2, with
Zoe Martin making three huge saves to give her 11 on the day.
The Spartans began the fourth quarter with three penalty corner opportunities, converting on the third one two minutes in.
Gwyn Vincent took a hard shot that Smithson redirected toward
Ava LaRoss who was waiting at the far post to bat the ball in to bring the Spartans back within one. The Spartans had seven penalty corner opportunities as the fourth quarter began to wind down but could not convert on any.
The Spartans ended the season with a record of 16-5 going 6-0 in Little East Conference play, which led them to clinch the LEC regular season title for the first time in program history.
