With a 16-2 loss on April 13 to 12th-ranked RPI at home, men’s lacrosse head coach Brian Kingsbury cancelled the following two practices before a weekend in which the Spartans would be playing two conference opponents at Spartan Stadium. It was up to the team, itself, to find a balance and prepare for the weekend.The players spent the next two days with team-building activities like captain’s practice, a football game among the players, and a team dinner on Friday, April 15, according to assistant coach Jake Rick.

Castleton went 2-0 on the weekend defeating its North Atlantic Conference opponents by a combined score of 36-5, including a shutout on Sunday, April 16 over the University of Maine-Farmington 14-0.

Head coach Brian Kingsbury said that the building was something the team needed.

“When the season’s coming to an end it’s a good time to reshape and get stronger,” Kingsbury said.

The older players agreed that team-building was needed.

“(The team-building) was good,” junior midfielder Sam Bailey said. “It helped our team a lot. Our team got together and we supported each other like we needed.”

Freshman sensation Alex Green led the balanced Spartan offense with four goals, one assist, and 11 ground balls against Farmington. Through 12 games, Green leads the team in points (44) and goals (32).

Junior midfielder A.J. Groot opened the game with a natural hat-trick, followed by a Luke Titus tally and the Spartans closed out the first quarter on top 4-0. The story was the same in the second with Green striking three times, being joined by sophomore middie Brian McCarthy’s fifth of the season. Castleton entered halftime up 8-0.

The Spartans dominated play in the second half as well to close out the win with a 79-16 shot-advantage and 70-31 advantage in ground balls.

Castleton junior goalie and co-captain Dave DeGhetto made four saves for the win and handed the reigns to sophomore Tom Manley midway through the third quarter. Manley stopped both shots he faced.

“I think it’s working hard and having confidence in ourselves and what we can do as a team and as individuals,” Bailey said.

Bailey and Castleton took care of business on Saturday, April 16 as well with a 22-5 victory over Thomas College.

Green had four goals and three assists to lead the Spartans and Bailey followed close behind with three goals and a helper of his own.

The Spartans outshot the Terriers 66-17 and finished with a 68-31 ground ball-advantage.

“We got to stay close together as a team,” Bailey said. “We’ve got two more conference games left that we should win and we need to have a good game against (SUNY) Cobleskill before we start the NAC tournament.