BOX SCORE

NEW LONDON, N.H. – April 21, 2012 – The Castleton women's lacrosse team used a strong first half to defeat Colby-Sawyer 15-12 and lock up the top seed in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) East Division.  
 
Castleton went a perfect 6-0 in NAC play this season and improved to 8-5 overall. The Spartans clinch the top seed in the upcoming NAC tournament. Before then, Castleton will play at Keene on Tuesday. Colby-Sawyer falls to 8-7 overall and is 4-2 in the conference. The Chargers will wait for the matchups to be released for next Saturday's conference tournament.

Eight different players scored for Castleton led by senior Angelica Mazzola (Centerport, N.Y) and freshman Kate Auer (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) who had three apiece. Sophomore JenniLee Mark (Chelmsford, Mass.), sophomore Amanda Flodstrom (Stratham, N.H.), and sophomore Sarah Clark (Guilford, Vt.) added two each. Scoring once for the Spartans were junior Jessica Taplin (Barre, Vt.), sophomore Blake Wardwell (Bridgewater, Vt.) and junior Cori Healy (Jefferson Township, N.J.).  Freshman Kelsey McDonald (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) improved to 3-0 in net and made nine saves.

Senior Brittney Murphy (Woburn, Mass.) led the Chargers with five goals. Junior Laurel Bauer (Bradford, N.H.) had four, while senior Molly Prudden (Andover, Mass.) and junior Ashley Reis (Peterborough, N.H.) scored two and one, respectively. Sophomore Adrienne Bender (Wakefield, R.I.) took the loss in goal, but made 12 saves.

Colby-Sawyer controlled the tempo for the first 13 minutes of the first half and led 4-1. Castleton began to speed the game up, which resulted in more scoring chances. Castleton rattled off seven unanswered goals capped by a tally from Kate Auer with 3:01 left to play. The Spartans outshot Colby-Sawyer 17-11 and held an 8-4 edge on the scoreboard at the break.

Castleton scored four of the first five goals to open the second half before Colby-Sawyer made a run. Trailing 12-5 with less than 14 minutes to play, the Chargers offense was sparked by a pair of goals from Ashley Reis and Molly Prudden. Castleton was able to briefly stop the run with a pair of goals from Sarah Clark and Angelica Mazzola, but the Chargers quickly regained momentum with five consecutive goals to come within two 14-12. The away team controlled the ball in the final three minutes with crisp passing, keeping possession in their offensive end. Jessica Taplin added an insurance goal with seconds remaining to secure the 15-12 victory.