CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's lacrosse team dropped a non-conference tilt against SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday night, falling to the Bears 19-6 at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
Ethan Esposito led the Spartans on offense with a pair of goals while Cam Frankenhoff, Casey Meczywor, Preston Kozlowski and Hunter Sarro added goals for the Spartans (1-3). Henry Lumbra and Jordan Damske had three ground balls apiece and Zac Smith made a team-high 12 saves across 26 minutes of action.
 
Potsdam (3-1) unleashed 58 shot attempts—36 of which went on target—and went 4-of-7 on man-up chances. Cobie Cree netted six goals and Ryan Hughes added four. Peyton Walsh had two goals and four assists while Owen Walsh scored once with four helpers. Drew Costello won 18-of-24 face-offs and had nine ground balls in the game. Saka Thompson earned the win with just one goal against in 30 minutes of action.
 
The Bears raced ahead 5-0 through 11 minutes of play before Sarro got Castleton on the board with a low runner, 5-1. Potsdam added a pair more and led 7-1 after 15 minutes. The lead grew to 11-1 at halftime after Potsdam kept the Spartans scoreless in the second quarter.
 
Esposito struck first to start the third, but Potsdam was in control from there with seven goals to extend its edge to 18-2. The Spartans continued to battle, scoring four of the final five goals in the contest. Esposito's second of the day began the stretch, followed by Meczywor's goal on an assist from Ian Edgar. Frankenhoff notched the Spartans' fifth goal and Kozlowski finished the scoring in the contest in the final minute of the game.
 
VTSU Castleton is at SUNY Canton on Thursday at 4 p.m.