Gorham, ME- Freshman Kirk Bolduc (Lewiston, Maine) knocked home a rebound 14 seconds into overtime to give the fifth-seeded Castleton State College Spartans a 3-2 victory over the fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies in a quarterfinal round game of the ECAC East tournament Saturday night at the USM Ice Arena.
The win moves the Spartans, now 17-5-4, into next weekend's semifinals against second-seeded New England College. NEC advanced with its 4-3 win over Salem State College. The other semifinal match-up will pit top-seeded Norwich University against sixth-seeded Babson College. The semifinals and championship game will be hosted by Norwich.
Southern Maine ends its season 15-9-2.
After gaining a faceoff in the USM end in the opening seconds of overtime, freshman center Ryan Bartlett (Brunswick, Maine) won the draw back to sophomore defenseman Jared Lavender (Cleveland Heights, Ohio). Lavender's shot from the right point was stopped by USM senior goalie David Beckles (Stamford, Conn.), but he was unable to control the rebound, and Bolduc popped the puck into the net for the game winner.
After a scoreless first period, the Spartans grabbed a 2-0 lead in the middle period. Senior defenseman Joe Huchko (Congers, N.Y.) got the first goal, unassisted, at 10:42 when he stopped a USM clearing attempt and beat Beckles from the blue line through a screen. Sophomore Craig Richardson (Muskegon, Mich.) made it 2-0 at 18:59 when he slapped home a rebound from the left wing boards. Rookies Eric Curtis (Rockford, Mich.) and Steve Smiddy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) picked up the assists.
Southern Maine rallied in the third period to tie the game and force overtime. Senior defenseman Chris Helms (Sandwich, Mass.) scored the first goal one second after a Spartan penalty had expired at 7:57, set up by junior (Mike Stevens Dover, N.H.) and freshman Tom Galiani (Lindenhurst, N.Y.). Sophomore defenseman Ben Loss (Wilmette, Illinois) got the equalizer at 10:47 on another power play, assisted by junior Dane Marshall (Yarmouth, Nova Scotia) and senior Chris Sparkes (St. John's, Newfoundland).
Castleton sophomore goalie Jeff Swanson (Grand Haven, Mich.) picked up the win by making 33 saves. Beckles finished the game with 22 stops.
