Second Half Surge Pushes Castleton Past Western New England, 12-8

Phillips leads Golden Bears with four goals and one assist

CASTLETON, Vt. (March 6, 2018) – Castleton University outscored Western New England University by four goals in the second half to earn a 12-8 victory over the Golden Bears on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference women's lacrosse action at Spartan Stadium.

Top Performers
• Sophomore midfielder Lindsey Phillips (East Longmeadow, Mass.) led the Western New England offense with four goals and one assist on a team-high eight shots (six on goal). Phillips also recorded three ground balls, two caused turnovers and one draw control.
• Classmate Shannen Barrett (Rensselaer, N.Y.) posted a three-point effort with a goal and two assists.

• Sophomore attack Erin Shuttle (Georgia, Vt.) paced Castleton with four goals and one assist, while seniors Hannah Braman (Chelsea, Vt.) and Emily Cross (Shaftsbury, Vt.) tallied three goals each for the Spartans.
• Junior midfielder Megan Wood (Waterford, Vt.) collected a game-high six draw controls and also chipped in offensively with a goal and two assists.

Game Review
Shuttle staked the Spartans to a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the contest with an unassisted goal. Junior Kristen Breen (Ellington, Conn.) equalized for the Golden Bears on a feed from Phillips 20 seconds later, and the score remained tied until Shuttle put the home team back in front at the 22:45 mark.

Western New England had an answer for each of Castleton's first half goals, as Barrett buried her first of the season with 17:07 left in the half to tie the score for the second time.

The Spartans regained the lead two more times over the remainder of the half on goals by Wood (12:09) and Shuttle (3:40), but freshman Reilly Miller (Goshen, N.Y.) (7:23) and Phillips (0:31) both scored for the Golden Bears as the contest was tied 4-4 at the break.

Cross (29:27) and Braman (27:25) found the back of the net early in the second half as the Spartans claimed the lead (6-4) for good.

Phillips notched her second goal of the game at the 27:00 mark, but Castleton responded with five straight goals to put the contest out of reach.

Western New England scored three goals over the final 11 minutes of regulation, including two more from Phillips, but the Golden Bears' deficit proved to be too much to overcome as the Spartans held on for a 12-8 triumph.

Notes
• Castleton outshot Western New England 31-24, including 17-7 in the second half. The Spartans also held a 14-8 advantage in draw controls.  
• Western New England was successful on 18-of-23 (78.2%) clear attempts after going 26-for-52 (50%) over the first two games of the season.
• Making her first collegiate start, freshman goalie Kaitlyn Marchant (Londonderry, N.H.) finished with 11 saves in the cage. 

Up Next
Western New England (0-3) will look to pick up its first win of the 2018 campaign on Friday, as the Golden Bears return home to host Westfield State at 4 p.m. Castleton (1-1) continues its three-game homestand on Saturday against Southern Maine at noon.