CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's lacrosse team pounced early and never looked back as it picked up a crucial conference victory over Salem State on Saturday, 16-5.
 
The Spartans improve to 2-9 overall and 1-2 in league play, staying in the playoff mix in the Little East Conference. Salem State is now 4-7 on the season and 0-4 in LEC play. The Spartans dominated the stat sheet, holding a 28-18 edge in shots on goal, a 48-31 advantage in ground balls and a 17-7 lead in face-off wins. The Spartans honored four seniors in a Senior Day ceremony prior to the game: Cam Frankenhoff, Ty Bowen, Jonah Janaro and Kam Strickland.
 
Casey Meczywor and Frankenhoff had monster days, each tallying four goals and multiple assists. Meczywor finished with three helpers and 10 ground balls and Frankenhoff had two assists with seven ground balls. Carter Frankenhoff, Hunter Sarro and Preston Kozlowski had two goals and one assist each while Jordan Damske and Ethan Esposito each had goals. Janaro snagged seven ground balls and was one of three Spartans to cause two turnovers on the day, while Bryce Fontaine was solid at the face-off dot with 17 victories. Chase Strychaluk earned his first win between the pipes with 13 saves in 55-plus minutes.
 
Coleman Ballweg had a goal and an assist to lead Salem State with four others scoring once each. Ryan Rice led the team with seven ground balls and Glen-Thanh Doan had four caused turnovers. Ryan Cohen stopped 12 shots in the loss.
 
The Spartans raced out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a first-quarter hat-trick by Meczywor. He scored the first goal a man down before Cam Frankenhoff doubled the lead to 2-0. Meczywor then rattled off back-to-back scored for the four-goal edge less than 10 minutes into the contest. The Vikings tallied the last goal of the quarter, but the Spartans went into the second frame with a 4-1 edge.
 
The second quarter was all Spartans, with VTSU Castleton outscoring Salem State 5-0 in the stretch. Carter Frankenhoff and Preston Kozlowski scored to push the lead to 6-1 before Cam Frankenhoff scored two more for an 8-1 gap. Carter Frankenhoff got back in the goal column before halftime to give the hosts a 9-1 lead at the break.
 
The offense kept rolling in the third, with Cam Frankenhoff netting his fourth of the day before Esposito, Kozlowski, Damske and Meczywor added markers to push the lead to 14-1. Salem State inched closer with two goals to end the third, but VTSU Castleton led 14-3 through three frames.
 
The final quarter was the lowest-scoring stretch of the day, with each side striking twice. Both Spartan goals in the fourth came from the stick of Sarro, who found the twine midway through the frame and again with just one minute to play to seal the game 16-5.
 
The Spartans return to action on Tuesday at 4 p.m. against Plymouth State with a home game at Dave Wolk Stadium.