NORTHFIELD, Vt.- In their home opener of the 2025 season, the Norwich Men's Soccer team bested intrastate rival Vermont State Castleton Sunday afternoon with a dominant second half in the first meeting between the two schools at Sabine Field since 2019.

After the two sides traded early chances, the Spartans broke the ice off their second corner of the game in the 12^th minute. After the initial boot, Tanner Curtis found the back of the net with a header to put Castleton ahead early. As the half wore on, the Cadets started testing Spartan keeper Xander Berthiaume, but the Spartan lead remained at the intermission.

Norwich came out of the locker room for the second half with a head of steam and began dominating possession, eventually leading to three penalty kicks in 5:33. The first attempt was awarded to Christian Grubic (Montvale, N.J.), who was turned aside. A minute later, Ben Rubinstein (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) got his chance. The initial opportunity was shut down by Berthiaume, but Rubinstein corralled his own rebound to bury the equalizer.

Minutes later, after a golden opportunity for the Cadets had misfired, Diego Fuentes (Valencia, Spain) took the third penalty kick, after Sharmarke Hassan (Burlington, Vt.) drew the foul, and buried the tiebreaker. Norwich kept up the pressure, but Berthiaume kept Castleton within one. Kirk Rodgers (Lebanon, Ohio) and the Norwich defense kept the Spartans without an opportunity to preserve their second win of the weekend.

In the second half, the Cadets outshot Castleton 12-1 with Berthiaume making five saves, with Norwich taking eight corners. Grubic led the way in shot attempts with five, while he and Rubinstein tied for shots on target with three each.

Up next, the Cadets will travel across Lake Champlain to face Plattsburgh State for the first time since 2017 on Sept. 3 with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.