HENNIKER, N.H. – The Castleton State College men's ice hockey team defeated New England College 4-2 Saturday afternoon, opening the season at 2-0 for the first time in history.

The win, Castleton's first against the Pilgrims in nine previous tries (0-7-2), comes on the heels of the first-ever victory for a Castleton program over Saint Anselm on Friday.

Kyle Richards (Halifax, N.S.) scored his first career goal with 20 seconds remaining in the first period to give Castleton the advantage heading into the first intermission.

The Spartans made it 2-0 just one minute and 54 seconds into the second period as Colin Murray (Oshawa, Ont.) potted his first collegiate goal off assists from Dan Bell (Victoria, B.C.) and Ben Schoenberger (Vernon, Conn.).

New England College's Joanthan Boxill (Bracknell, England) sliced the margin in half with just under 11 minutes remaining before the second intermission and Niko Uolo's (Turku, Finland) third goal of the season made it 2-2 with a little less than five minutes left in the contest.

With one minute and six seconds remaining in regulation Bell converted his first goal of the season, the game-winner, off assists from Josh Harris (Torrance, Calif.) and captain Stuart Stefan (Delhi, Ont.).

Mike Cifelli (Havre De Grace, Md.) tacked on an empty-netter, the first of his career, for the final margin.

Castleton controlled play all game, illustrated by a 40-13 shots on goal margin, while taking just three penalties for six minutes. Seth McNary (Woburn, Mass.) stopped 11 shots to move to 2-0 on the season, while his counterpart Aaron Harvey (Milford, N.S.) fell to 1-1, making 36 saves.