NASHUA, N.H. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's lacrosse team dropped a non-conference battle in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, falling to Rivier 17-5 on the road.
 
The Spartans (0-6) were outshot 29-16 by Rivier (3-2) with a 22-11 margin in shots on goal. The Spartans were strong on the clear going 13-for-13, but the Raiders had a 20-12 edge in ground balls and a 14-11 advantage on draw controls.
 
Megan Ward scored four times with five draw controls for VTSU Castleton and Phoebe Loomis tallied the remaining goal. Tien Connor and Gianna Geraci had assists for Castleton. Kimberly McCarthy stacked up seven ground balls and three caused turnovers on defense. Liv Cormier made five saves.
 
Sarah LaChance and Caitlin Newell had five goals each for Rivier with Ashley Wilder adding a hat-trick as well. Cassie Hemmerdinger scooped six ground balls and had five caused turnovers. Lindsey Kruger made six saves in 45 minutes for the win in goal.
 
Ward cut a two-goal Raider lead in half just over five minutes into the contest with her first of the night, but Rivier went on a seven-goal run from there to pull ahead 9-1 early in the second quarter. Loomis stopped the bleeding but Rivier responded once more for a 10-2 edge. Ward found twine again to pull within 10-3, but a late goal sent the hosts into the halftime break leading 11-3.
 
The third quarter was lower scoring, with the defense buckling down for both sides. Rivier extended its lead to 13-3 four minutes into the quarter, but Ward scored her third of the game to make it 13-4 with 4:22 to go in the third. The Raiders pushed it back to a double-digit edge with another score before the end of the third. Rivier added three more in the fourth to move ahead 17-4, but Ward scored the final tally of the night to make it 17-5 at the final horn.
 
The Spartans are back at home on Thursday at 4 p.m. against SUNY Potsdam to kick off a four-game homestand.