GORHAM, Maine – Liam Evarts and Preston Kozlowski combined 11 points as the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans defeated the University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's lacrosse team 11-6 on Saturday afternoon in the first Little East Conference game of the year for both teams. Evarts scored twice and had four assists for a game-high six points. Kozlowski had a hat trick plus two assists.
 
Junior Owen Gaulrapp (Windham, Maine) led the Huskies' offense with a hat trick, his second of the season. Junior Lucas Rego (Dracut, Mass./Lowell Catholic) scored twice for the Huskies as well for the first multiple goal game of his career.  Rego's seven ground balls ranked second on the team behind junior Nick Shevchenko (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester). Shevchenko went 10-for-14 on faceoffs with eight ground balls.
 
Junior Brycen Wolfahrt (Biddeford, Maine) recorded a season-high 18 saves in the loss. Castleton's Finn Maniaci made 10 saves to earn the win.
 
The Records:
VTSU Castleton: 2-6 (1-0 LEC)
Southern Maine: 2-4 (0-1 LEC)
 
Series History:
The Spartans lead the series 10-2.
 
The Goaltenders:
VTSU Castleton: Finn Maniaci (2-5), 60:00, six goals allowed, 10 saves
Southern Maine: Brycen Wolfahrt (1-4), 60:00, 11 goals allowed, 18 saves
 
How It Happened:

• Following a goal by Castleton's Taysean Metz to start the game, the Huskies went on a 3-0 run that featured two goals by Gaulrapp with a score by sophomore Finn McCarthy (Durham, Maine/Freeport) in between. Gaulrapp's second goal came with the Huskies up a man with 2:45 left. An up goal by Kozlowski cut the lead to 3-2 heading into the second quarter.
• Goals by Rego and Gaulrapp put the Huskies ahead 5-2 before the Spartan's ripped off a 4-0 run to end the half and take the lead 6-5. Senior James Kastrinakis (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) assisted on Gaulrapp's hat trick goal.
• Rego tied the game at 6-6 before the Spartans reclaimed the lead with another 4-0 run to go ahead 10-6.
• Evarts had the only goal of the fourth quarter with Kozlowski assisting

 
Inside The Stats:

• Castleton had a 37-26 lead in shots and led 29-16 in shots on goal.
• Led by Shevchenko, the Huskies won 14 of the 20 faceoffs. Freshman Charles Kennedy (Windham, Maine) went 4-for-6 on faceoffs with three ground balls.
• The ground balls were 36-24 in favor of the Huskies.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will host Thomas College on Wednesday at 4:00 pm in a non-conference game.