Morello, Sorrentino pace Panther offense, St. George strong in goal

            CASTLETON, Vt. – Plymouth State University scored six unanswered goals in the first half to take the lead for good Saturday afternoon, and the Panthers went on to a 14-7 victory over Castleton State College in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Spartan Stadium.

            Senior Nick Morello (North Billerica, Mass.) was the Panthers' top scorer with five goals, one assist and four ground balls. Sophomore Nicco Sorrentino (Chelmsford, Mass.) added three goals and two assists while junior Phil Pichel (Hopkinton, Mass.) chipped in with one goal, two assists and three ground balls. Sophomore Brandon Lee (Canton, Mich.) and freshman Kyle Stockman (Ballston, Mich.) combined to go an impressive 17-for-22 in the faceoff circle.

            Senior Zach Davidson led the Castleton offense with two goals and two assists while Louis Alhage added one goal, one assist, and four ground balls. Dillon Robinson led the team with three caused turnovers and picked up three ground balls. 

            PSU outshot Castleton 50-35 in the contest and won only 17 of 25 faceoffs as the Panthers improved to 2-1 on the season. PSU senior Chris St. George (Marblehead, Mass.) made 12 saves to earn the win and drop the Spartans to 0-3.

            Taylor Swarter opening the scoring for Castleton with 2:37 left in the first quarter off a feed from Davidson. The Panthers responded with goals by Morello and Pichel  in the last two minutes for a 2-1 lead after one quarter.

            Plymouth State extended its lead to 3-1 on Morello's second of the game at 10:11. Senior C.J. Frates (Woodstock, Vt.) added another score and Morello put in back-to-back goals to push the Panther lead to 6-1 with 6:47 left in the half. Alex Denny ended the run with a goal at 2:40 and Davidson brought the Spartans back within three before the half, 6-3.

            The third quarter was all Panthers as they outshot Castleton 17-4 and pushed their lead to 10-3 with four more goals. In the fourth, Davidson cut the deficit to 10-4 with 11:54 left but the Spartans wouldn't get any closer as Plymouth scored four times in the period to finish with the 14-7 win.

            Plymouth State is back in action Tuesday with a non-conference game at Massachusetts Maritime Academy (7:00 p.m.) The Spartans look to earn their first win of the year when they host Green Mountain on Tuesday at 6 p.m. 

 (Courtesy of Castleton Sports Information)

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