Newton, Mass. (9/21/13) – The Lasell College field hockey team fell victim to a five goal outburst in the second half against visiting Castleton State to drop their North Atlantic Conference opener 5-0 to the Spartans. Castleton improved to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in NAC play, while Lasell slipped to 3-5 and 0-1 in league action.

Kristy Pinkham (Brandon, Vt.) netted a hat-trick for Castleton, Rachel Preusser (Craryville, N.Y.) added a goal and four assists and Stephanie Bardell (Erwinna, Penn.) finished with a goal and an assist in the victory. Jessica Galatioto (Queesnbury, N.Y.) made four saves in goal to preserve the shutout and collect the victory.

Taylor Sheehan (Brewster, Mass.) stopped 19 shots in the cage for Lasell.

The Spartans held a 15-3 edge in shots in the opening half, but sound defending allowed Lasell to limit their visitors chances to low percentage opportunities that they were able to clear away from danger. The second half would go the visitors' way, as Castleton tallied five goals and out shot Lasell 22-2 in the final 35 minutes.

 Pinkham opened the scoring in the 39^th minute when she blasted a feed from Preusser into the net off a penalty corner to give Castleton a 1-0 lead. The duo would hook up again in the 53^rd and 58th^th minutes also on penalty corners that Pinkham would finish from the top of the circle to go on top 3-0.

Preusser added a goal of her own in the 62^nd minute when she scored from close range on an assist by Bardwell before she found Bardell in the 65^th minute to produce the final 5-0 margin.

Lasell will host Johnson and Wales University on Thursday September 26^th at 4:00 p.m. while Castleton will take on Mount Holyoke tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. at Spartan stadium.