RUTLAND, Vt. - The third-ranked Spartans got a scare on Tuesday against Plymouth St., falling into a 2-0 hole before answering with a quartet of third-period scores and finishing with the 5-2 victory at Spartan Arena.
Trailing 2-1 going into the third, Castleton scored three times in a two-minute span to take back the lead for good. The Spartans also held the Panthers to just three shots in the final period as they improved to 7-0, the best start in program history. Junior Justin Alonzo (San Jose, Calif.) led the attack with a pair of goals and one assist.
Plymouth grabbed the lead just 10:20 into the game, as Alex Cottle (West Chester, Pa.) jammed home a puck in front of the net off assists from Richie Zobak (Evergreen Park, Ill.) and Kyle Greco (Hillside, Ill.).
The Panthers made it 2-0 with just under four minutes remaining in the period on Kyle Weiland's (Hampden, Maine) third goal of the season. He one-timed a centering pass and it deflected off a defender's stick and popped over goalie Seth McNary's (Woburn, Mass.) head and dropped behind him into the back of the net.
The Spartans came out firing in the second and it paid off just 1:19 into the period. Holding the puck behind the net, sophomore Colin Murray (Oshawa, Ont.) found Alonzo streaking in front where he one-timed home his second goal of the season.
Looking for the tying goal in the third, the Spartans got a break with two penalties in the period's first four and a half minutes. After the failed 5-on-3, Castleton drew another penalty for another one-minute two-man advantage.
They would only need a few seconds as Nick Lazorko (Rockwall, Texas) won the faceoff back to junior Ben Schoeneberger (Vernon, Conn.) and he sniped a slap shot into the top left corner of the net to tie the score at one apiece 5:41 into the period.
The Spartans continued their aggressive play and were rewarded just 26 seconds later as senior Tyler Adkins (Brockville, Ont.) fired a slap shot from the left point past goalie Jack Astedt (Angelholm, Swe.) off passes by Alonzo and Ryan Delorme (Kanata, Ont.).
Leading 3-2, Castleton kept the pressure on and Alonzo scored at the 7:54 to make it a two-goal game with assists coming from Ryan Frost (Fullerton, Calif.) and Lazorko.
Freshman Kevin Van Dyk (Grand Valley, Ont.) concluded the scoring with his second goal of the season, a wrist shot from the right point which barely beat the final horn.
Astedt finished the game with 26 saves while McNary made 17 stops between the pipes. Plymouth St. drops to 4-1 on the season and returns to the ice on Nov. 29, hosting New England College at 6 p.m.
Castleton stays at home with its sterling 7-0 mark, as the Spartans host the Rutland Invitational, beginning on Saturday with a 3 p.m. game against Becker.
