CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's lacrosse team hung tight with Mass. Maritime in the opening half on Tuesday evening, but the high-powered Buccaneer offense pulled away in the second half to hand the Spartans a 20-7 defeat in the Little East Conference opener at Dave Wolk Stadium.
 
After falling behind 6-1 to open the contest, VTSU Castleton (1-5, 0-1 LEC) finished the first half strong to trail just 8-5 the break thanks to goals from four different players. Mass. Maritime regrouped at halftime and scored the first five goals of the second half to pull ahead 13-5 and coast the remainder of the way.
 
The Buccaneers outshot Castleton 56-27 with a 35-16 edge in shots on goal. Both sides had 21 successful clear attempts, but MMA had a large edge in ground balls, 54-26, and a 19-11 edge in face-off wins.
 
Casey Meczywor dished out three assists for a team-best three points on the day, while Carter Frankenhoff and Jordan Damske scored two goals apiece. Cam Frankenhoff had a goal and an assist and Preston Kozlowski and Hunter Sarro had solo scores. Asa Forbes' seven ground balls led the Spartans as did his two caused turnovers. Zac Smith stopped 14 shots in goal over 57 minutes.
 
For Mass. Maritime, Quinn Mucha racked up eight goals and an assist for nine points while Daniel Kane dished out six assists with a pair of goals for eight points on the night. Four others had two goals apiece. Brian Rosher had 10 ground balls thanks to a 19-for-30 day at the face-off spot and Chris Sullivan caused four turnovers. Three goalies split time with Eddie Keller making six saves in the opening half to earn the win.  
 
The Spartans are back in action Saturday at 2:30 on the road at Nichols for a non-conference tilt.