CASTLETON, VT.- For the eighth straight season, the Vermont State University Castleton field hockey team has qualified for the Little East Conference Tournament. The fifth seed Spartans travel to fourth seed Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday. Game time from Mansfield, Conn is at 5:00 p.m.

How They Got Here: Castleton finished the regular season with a record of 7-10 overall and 4-3 in LEC play. The Spartans have won three of their last four games. The Warriors went 9-8 overall and 4-3 in the Little East. They have also won three of their last four contests.

Last Meeting: The two teams last met on October 10 at Dave Wolk Stadium. It was a defensive battle with the game scoreless until 51:23 when Audrey Molin scored the only goal of the day as East Conn won 1-0. The Spartans outshot the Warriors 10-4 and led 5-3 in shots on goal.

Series History: This will be the 13^th all-time meeting between the two schools. Castleton leads 8-4 overall but the Warriors have won the last three straight games. It is the second straight year that the Spartans and Warriors have met in the First Round of the LEC Tournament. Last year in Mansfield, the Warriors topped the Spartans 2-0. Castleton and East Conn have played each other two other times in the first round in 2018 and 2023. Castleton won 5-2 in 2023 and 7-0 in 2018.

The Spartans: Leading Castleton in scoring is Gwyn Vincent with 11 goals and 25 points. She ranks fourth in the LEC in goals scored and eighth in points. Vincent has two hat trick performances this season. Peyton Richardson is second on the team with nine goals and leads in assists with six. On the defensive side, Brooke Noble has a career-high seven defensive saves to rank third in the conference. Izabella Cosden has started all 17 games in the cage. She has 71 saves.

The Warriors: Molin has 20 goals and 44 points to lead the team and the Little East. Grace Barlage is tied for the team lead with Jenna Boardman with eight assists. The duo are tied for second in the conference in that category. Katie Harrington has four defensive saves. Goalkeeping duties have been split between Veronica McKenna and Kate Paradise. McKenna has 51 saves and .671 save percentage. She had five saves in the last meeting between the Spartans and Warriors and recorded her only shutout of the season.