For the first time this season, the defending North Atlantic Conference champion men’s soccer team was dealt its first conference loss of 2009 on Sunday, Oct. 4. The Spartans were shut out 2-0 by the University of Maine at Farmington on the road.”It’s a tough field to play at,” said Spartan coach John Werner. “[Farmington] got two [goals] early and it held. I give them credit.”

The Spartans outshot Farmington 19-10 in the loss.

The ball found its way into the Farmington box three times in the second half for close chances that just wouldn’t fall Castleton’s way. The biggest chance came off of the head of midfielder Zac Conlogue as the ball got past Farmington keeper, Erik Corcoran. Unfortunately for the Spartans, it was saved and cleared by defender Nick Grim.

“We dominated huge stretches of the match at times,” said Werner. “It was just one of those days.”

Werner said he felt that Castleton was the better team going into the match, and that he gives credit to the job Farmington did on both sides of the ball.

“Our boys always play hard,” Werner said of his team’s effort. “They don’t get down on each other and always give it their all.”

Farmington was the second stop on a two game swing through the state of Maine for the Spartans. Castleton played conference foe Thomas College on Saturday, Oct. 3, beating the Terriers 6-1.

Thomas took an early lead just minutes into the game, but Castleton went on to score two unanswered goals in the first half and four more in the second half, three of which came from the foot and head of Josh Costa.

“It was a great performance from Costa,” Werner said.

Costa made his presence felt in the Farmington loss as well, launching six shots, putting four on goal.

The men’s soccer team returns home tonight, October 7, for a match-up against Division III powerhouse, Williams College, who recently cracked the top 25 according to d3soccer.com. The game starts at 4:15pm at Spartan Stadium.