CASTLETON, Vt. – Senior
Emily Santom (Litchfield, N.H.) scored four times in the opening period as Plymouth State University got out to a big lead early before coasting to a 21-3 win over Castleton University in a Little East Conference (LEC) women's lacrosse game at Dave Wolk Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Spartans struck first and the game was tied at 2-2 in the opening 2:30, but Santom's second goal of the game sparked a 7-0 surge to go up 9-2 after one.
PSU scored three straight to open the second and closed the frame with a 5-0 spurt as the Panthers rolled into halftime with a 17-3 lead, and Plymouth State coasted to the victory in the second half.
Santom poured in six goals and finished with nine points, while senior
Olivia Croke (Norwell, Mass.) ran the offense with six assists and a pair of goals of her own.
Plymouth State improves to 9-6 (5-1 LEC) and can lock up a first round bye and the #2 seed for the LEC Tournament with a win over Eastern Connecticut or a Southern Maine loss at WestConn on Saturday. The Spartans slip to 4-11 and 1-5 in conference play.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 21, Castleton 3
- Plymouth State (9-6, 5-1 LEC)
- Castleton (4-11, 1-5 LEC)
How it Happened:
- The hosts opened the scoring 46 seconds into play, but Santom answered just 14 seconds later to pull even and sophomore Julia Donovan (Antrim, N.H.) gave the Panthers a lead just over a minute later.
- Castleton squared the game at 2-2, but Santom had the answer once again to spark a 7-0 run. Sophomore Maddie Hunt (Acton, Mass.) and Croke scored 20 seconds apart as the lead grew to 5-2, and Santom scored back-to-back goals with 6:43 left in the period.
- Hunt and Donovan added goals to close out the quarter with a 9-2 advantage.
- Sophomore Jenna Stowell (Londonderry, N.H.), Donovan and Santom each scored in the opening two minutes of the second period, before the Spartans found the back of the cage to make it 12-3.
- That was as close as Castleton would get, though, as PSU scored the final nine goals of the game.
- Sophomore Elle Moshier (Stratford, Conn.) started the surge, before Santom added her fourth of the game.
- Hunt, junior Megan Gaspa (Laconia, N.H.) and Stowell all scored to push the lead to 17-3 at halftime.
- Hunt and Stowell potted the only goals of the third quarter and junior Tarryn O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass.) and Croke closed out the win with fourth-quarter tallies to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Santom finished with six goals and three assists. Her nine points were just one shy of her career high.
- Croke chipped in two goals and added six assists, while Donovan chipped in three goals and three assists.
- Hunt added four goals and an assist, while Stowell finished with a hat trick.
- Stowell corralled a game-high 14 draw controls with Santom posting five ground balls.
- Senior Autumn Nelson (Weare, N.H.) led the defense with a career-high five caused turnovers.
- PSU held a 35-10 advantage in shots and went 13-of-16 on clear attempts, while limiting Castleton to just 12-of-21.
- The Panthers are 26-1 against Castleton all time and have won each of the last eight meetings.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State wraps up its regular season with a Senior Day contest against Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday (Apr. 29) at noon. A win over the Warriors, or a Southern Maine loss to WestConn, would give PSU the #2 seed for next week's LEC Tournament and a bye into the semifinal round.
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