Castleton, VT-Castleton State College's Matt VanDerKar scored a pair of goals, grabbed 16 ground balls and was 23-24 on face-offs, but it wasn't enough to take down the three-time defending champion Mustangs.

The Spartans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one quarter as Matt Varney assisted on goals by Steve Gerding and Adam Rosati. Robbie Scanlon sent the third home with 1:39 remaining to give Castleton the edge.

Mount Ida came storming back, scoring three unanswered of their own to open up the second quarter. Reigning NAC player of the year, Brett Conley broke the ice for the Mustangs while John Lightbown tallied the next two. A goal by freshman Jake Rick gave the lead back the Spartans, but Lightbown would score once again before halftime to send the game into the second half knotted at four.

Conley opened up the third quarter the same way he did the second, giving the Mustangs the lead. VanDerKar scored with 10:31 remaining in the third quarter to tie the game at five. The game would go back-and-forth with no team leading by more than one goal for the final two quarters.

In the fourth Caslteton trailed 10-9, but VanDerKar would strike to tie it one final time at 10-10 with 4:13 remaining. Conley would have the last laugh, scoring the game winner with 3:11 to play and sealing an undefeated season for the Mustangs.

Conley and Lightbown each had four goals, while Leo Shidler added a pair for the 10-3 (7-0 NAC) Mustangs. Rick led the Castleton offense with three goals, VanDerKar added two, and Scanlon had a pair.

With the loss Castleton falls to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in NAC play. Michael Mamunes stopped 15 shots in the loss, while Matt Vernik stopped 11 for Mount Ida.