DUDLEY, Mass. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's lacrosse team found itself turned things around in the second half on Thursday evening, but a first-half deficit was too much to overcome in a 15-4 road loss to Nichols.
 
The two sides played to a 3-3 deadlock after the break, but Nichols' 12-1 halftime lead was more than enough to hold off the Spartans over the final 30 minutes. The Bison had a 21-9 edge in shots on goal and an 11-9 edge in draws. The Spartans held a 23-21 edge in ground balls and went 15-of-22 on the clear.
 
Megan Ward and Gianna Geraci were the standouts on the stat sheet, netting two goals apiece in the contest. Ward also snagged four ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers. Colleen Sheridan had a team-high eight ground balls. Liv Cormier made six saves in the contest in goal.
 
Three Bison had hat-tricks on the day, with Hadley Houghton, Caitlin Welch and Makala Dube scoring thrice each. McKenzie Muir grabbed six ground balls and forced five turnovers on defense. Briar Slattery earned the win with three saves and one goal allowed in 45 minutes of action.
 
Nichols raced out to a 6-0 lead over the first nine minutes before Geraci scored on a woman-up free-position opportunity for the Spartans to end the first. The second quarter belonged wholly to the Bison with six unanswered goals to lead 12-1 at halftime.
 
The third quarter leaned toward Nichols as well, with the home side adding three more to its lead to stay on top 15-1 heading to the final 15 minutes. The Spartans scored all three fourth-quarter goals, keeping Nichols off the board in that span as well. Ward scored with 7:10 to play and Geraci followed with her second of the game three minutes later. With less than a minute to go, Ward netted her second of the night for the final goal of the game.
 
The Spartans return home on Saturday at noon to take on SUNY Morrisville at Dave Wolk Stadium.