CASTLETON, Vt. – The Cadets traveled to Spartan Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, after conditions on Howard Field hindered their home-opener hopes against Castleton State and the venue was swapped for the adaptable turf field conditions. Sacrificing the home field advantage, the Cadets (2-2) suffered a 12-4 loss on the road against the Spartans (2-4).

Sophomore Joe Galante netted two goals for the Cadets, as freshman Ian Mendoza and senior Tyler Nicoll each found the back of the net once. It was the strong offensive efforts of Castleton's freshman Alex Green and junior Adam Groot, who each recorded four goals apiece. Green finished the game with seven points, contributing with three assists on plays throughout the game.

Mendoza opened the scoring for the Cadets when Galante found him open for the one-timer in front of the net but Castleton quickly evened it up on a goal by sophomore Nohea King two minutes later. Galante came back with an unassisted effort past the Spartans' junior goaltender, Dave DeGhetto to own the advantage once again.

With just under three minutes remaining in the first, Castleton's freshman Will Stuhler shot a sniper past Cadets' junior Nathan Proctor.

Going into the second period, the Spartans' took their first lead of the game just seconds into play, as Groot drove past the Norwich defense and hit the lower left corner of the net.

Nicoll made his season debut and quickly put himself on the board. Getting held off by the Spartans' defenders, Nicoll was able to get a shot on target as he fell to the ground, watching the ball edge past DeGhetto and tie it up 3-3.

Galante followed suit and put Norwich back ahead with a sniper into the top shelf.

It was a short-lived lead, as Castleton's sophomore Kenneth Bourneuf tied the game 4-all. The hosts then jumped ahead on a goal by Green who hit the top left corner, beating Proctor's reaction time.

With six seconds remaining before the half, the home team put some padding between them and their visitors, as Green drove to net and hit the lower left corner with unstoppable force.

At the half and down by two goals, Norwich was holding even with the Spartans with 16 shots to their 18, but was being dominated when it came to the ground game with the Spartans cleaning up 23 ground balls to the Cadets' 11.

Castleton took the field in the second half ready to protect their home turf, as they scored six unanswered goals, denying Norwich the chance to reach the back of the net for the remainder of the game. Groot and Green both reached hat-trick status, as Groot bookended Green's goal in the third quarter.

Heading into the final quarter, the Cadets were looking to recover the from the five-goal spread that had been created. With freshman Mark Paradiso now protecting the pipes for Norwich, the Spartans quickly netted two back-to-back goals. Groot tallied his fourth point of the game, followed by senior Craig MacDerment's first goal of the season. 

With ten minutes left in the game, Green tripled the Cadets' score with his fourth goal and seventh point, as the scoreboard now read 12-4 in favor of the home team.

The Cadets collected 21 ground balls in the game, but were overwhelmed by Castleton's 43 pick-ups. The Spartans proved to have better aim on this given day, as they only outshot Norwich 39-31 overall.

Proctor held his ground as the Cadets' last line of defense, making eight saves in three quarters of play. Coming in for the final 15-minute round, Paradiso turned away two shots on goal.

The Cadets will remain on the road for the program's first GNAC game, as they face-off against the Hawks of Becker College at 1 p.m.

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