Castleton Slays Men’s Hockey in Third, 5-3

RUTLAND, Vt. –  Two third period goals in a 39-second span was enough for Castleton to to defeat Suffolk men's hockey, 5-3, Friday night at Spartan Arena.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Castleton 5
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-16-2, 2-13-2 NEHC) | Castleton (6-16-2, 4-12-1 NEHC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rams and Spartans got off to a fast start combining for four goals over 1:40. It would be the home team that would strike first with a Glenn Wiswell beating Jarret Bovarnick at the near post after a long pass from the Castleton zone for a 1-0 lead 5:31 into the game.  

Castleton would double its lead just 31 seconds later behind a goal from Alex Manunula.  

The Rams responded with a pair of goals of their own to keep things even. Just 35 seconds after Manunula pushed the gap to two, Joseph Mortillaro found the back of the net to start the comeback bid. Matt Bucher played through the junior to set up the opening goal.  

No more than 34 seconds later, Joe Vingi ound Devin Lowe, who tied the game at 2-all after beating the Castleton netminder in transition. 

The Spartans would take advantage of its power play opportunity with 1:44 remaining in the first frame to take a 3-2 edge into the locker rom.  

Shortly into the second stanza, Suffolk grabbed knotted things once again. This time it was Peter Nugent's stick that did the scoring. Brian Brooks played in the Rams rookie, who deposited the puck into the back of the net to tie the contest at 3-3, 3:54 out of the first intermission.   

The Rams would take control from that point testing Castleton's goalie Brandon Collett. The Rams forced Collett into 16 saves in the second period, while holding the Spartans to just four shots on net. Both netminders made their stops though and the teams would exit the second period locked at 3-3.  

Castleton took the lead for the third and final time with under nine minutes to play in the final period. The Spartans cashed in on the man-up opportunity once again to go up one and 38 seconds later, the home team pushed the distance back to two, 5-3, for the first time since the 6:02 minute mark of the opening period.  

Suffolk showed its final hand pulling the Bovarnick with two minutes to go. However, the Rams could not get past Collett and the score stood in Castleton's favor, 5-3.   

NETMINDER NOTES

• Bovarnick held off 21 shots on the evening.
• Collett made 37 saves for the Spartans over 60 minutes. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Mortillaro, Lowe and Nugent all marked one goal.
• Bucher, Vingi, and Nick Lachaine grabbed one assist each, all in the first period, while Brooks' one set-up came in the second. 
• Suffolk outshot the Spartans 40-26.
• The home team held the advantage in face-offs, 40-34. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk still maintains a 3-2-0 series advantage following tonight's loss. 
• Nugent tallied his first collegiate point and goal.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk concludes its schedule with a trip to #1 Norwich on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.