Newton, Mass.-Kealy Chipman (Bellow Falls, VT) scored three goals for the Spartans of Castleton State College today en route to a 10-3 North Atlantic Conference win over the Lasell College field hockey team. The victory marked the first NAC win of the 2009 season for the Spartans, who were predicted to be the top team in the league this season based on preseason polls. Castleton improves to 1-5 overall, 1-0 NAC. Lasell falls to 0-5 overall, and 0-1 in the NAC.
Courtney Nolan (Spring Lake Heights, NJ) began the scoring with back-to-back goals to give Castleton an early lead. Chipman scored her first tally of the day at 34:05, just 55 seconds before the break for halftime. The Spartans enjoyed a 3-0 lead at the intermission.
Within the first six minutes of the second stanza, Marie Amaral (Barre, VT) took a pass from Heather Brock (Bow, NH) scoring what would ultimately end up being the game winning mark.
After a fifth goal by the visitors, Lasell began their attack as Sara Jannuzzi (Glen, NH) registered an unassisted goal past Castleton's keeper Siobhan Whittemore (Springfield, VT) in the 51st minute. Jannuzzi would further assist on the Lasers' third goal by Natasha Wood (White River, VT), while Tia Pratt (S. Paris, ME) had a solo goal at 59:42.
The Spartans followed through with three more players scoring before Chipman finished the day with uninterrupted goals in the final minute of play.
Throughout the contest, Castleton held the advantage in shots, 32-23. Lasell's Christine Thornton (Canton, Mass.) worked hard in the loss, making 15 saves over the seventy minute contest, while Whittemore collected 10 saves and the win.
Lasell hits the road for the next five contests in a row, beginning with a non-conference match at Regis College on Tuesday, September 22nd at 3:30 p.m.