Spartan Standouts

Since March 25 no Castleton athletes have been better than those who yield a stick.
Baseball and softball have been full of impressive pitching and batting. Lacrosse, however, has been hit with a strong scoring addiction. Women’s and men’s lacrosse has been winning lately and largely due to the snipers and grinders of the native game.Riding a seven-game win streak, sophomore midfielder Marie VanDerKar and senior attack Nicole Adams have been a driving force for the Spartans with their scoring capabilities. During the seven-game win streak, VanDerKar and Adams have collectively scored 91 points for the Spartan offense.

VanDerKar finished her freshman season with 46 goals and 13 assists. After scoring only three points in her first two games this season, VanDerKar has gone on a shooting fit, scoring 38 goals and picking up five assists. Her 41 goals and seven assists this season put her on pace to improve on last year’s 59 points. VanDerKar scored nine goals and assisted on three goals against Becker this season; she also had an eight-goal performance when the Spartans played Norwich.

Adams finished last season with 40 goals and 15 assists. After this season’s April 8 game against Norwich, she had 23 goals and 28 assists. Already just four points behind her season high of 55 points from last year, Adams looks to double last year’s assist totals and could hit 40 goals again. Her three goals and nine assists against Becker, as well as her five goals and four assists while playing Maine Farmington, show that Adams is a consistent playmaker.

The combination of VanDerKar and Adams has been a huge factor in Castleton’s flawless record in the New England Women’s Lacrosse Alliance.

The men’s lacrosse team has won six of its eight games, thanks to an offensive mix of its own. Junior midfielder Mike Martinez and freshman attack Kevin McCarthy found a scoring formula that could not be stopped as the Spartans continued to grind through the North Atlantic Conference. Martinez scored 17 goals and assisted on three goals through the eight-game stint. His best performance came against Mount Ida as Martinez’s six goals helped Castleton finally take down Goliath.

McCarthy has been dishing out assists and plucking corners since the start of the year. His six-goal and four-assist performance was McCarthy’s best personal outing so far this season. McCarthy’s 14 goals and 11 assists in the eight games was enough to keep the Spartans perfect in the NAC. Martinez and McCarthy have accumulated 45 points together in the past eight matches, leaving the Spartan offense optimistic for the two remaining conference games.

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