RUTLAND, Vt. - The third-ranked Spartans dominated play from start to finish and got a career night from sophomore Colin Murray (Oshawa, Ont.) on their way to an impressive 10-0 victory over Becker on Saturday evening at Spartan Arena in the semifinals of the Rutland Herald Invitational.
Murray was all over the ice, scoring a career-high four goals and dishing out a pair of assists on his way to six points. The six points is the most by Castleton player since Justin Alonzo (San Jose, Calif.) posted the same stat line against Morrisville on New Years Day last season.
Freshman Thomas Shelley (Waterford, Ont.) got his first career start and didn't disappoint, turning away 18 shots for the Spartans' first shutout of the season. Castleton improves to 8-0 with the victory and advances to the championship of the Rutland Herald Invitational, where they will take on Morrisville at 3 p.m.
The Spartans pressured Becker from the onset and were rewarded 10:49 in, when Murray scored off a rebound right in front of the net. Juniors Chris Wieland (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Dan Bell (Victoria, B.C.) were credited with assists on the play.
Sophomore TJ Hermans (Chesterfield, Va.) made it a two-goal game 50 seconds later when he scored his second goal of the year off a good pass from sophomore Kyle Richards (Halifax, N.S.).
Castleton extended its lead to 3-0 at the 12:56 mark on Murray's second goal of the game. The second-year scored off a rebound in the midst of a scrum right in front of the net while Becker goalie Jake Rosenthal (Wangtagh, N.Y.) was sprawled out trying to cover the puck.
With just 2:52 remaining in the first, Murray recorded his third point of the period, assisting on a goal by Wieland. Bell was also credited with the assist on the play, his third of the evening.
In the second, the Spartans once again jumped on Becker early as Richards scored just 3:58 in the period. Coming off passes from Reid Lesswing (Amherst, N.Y.) and Mike Cifelli (Navre De Grace, Md.), Richards fired a wrist shot while skating across the right circle toward the middle of the ice, past a screened Rosenthal.
Murray got his hat trick just 2:55 into the third off a great feed from Bell. He came from behind the net and wrapped his pass around a defender to Murray who had an easy shot for his first career hat trick.
Just 12 seconds later, Lindsey Gullet (Wawaneesa, Man.) extended the lead to 7-0 on a breakaway goal. The senior got a lead pass from freshman Kris Faric (Whitby, Ont.), came down the left side and backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Tom Natoli (Suffern, N.Y.).
At the 9:22 mark, Nick Lazorko (Rockwall, Texas) made it 8-0 as he held the puck and went five-hole on a 2-on-1 rush. Three minutes later, senior Tyler Adkins (Brockville, Ont.) pushed the lead to nine on a wrist shot from just outside the left circle.
Murray concluded his career night with 3:06 left on a goal right in front off a rebound on his own shot.
The line of Murray, Wieland and Bell was dynamic all night as Wieland finished the evening with one goal and four assists while Bell added a career-high five assists.
Three different goalies saw action for Becker in Rosenthal, Natoli and Shaun Millerick (Hampton, N.H.). The three combined for 33 saves as the Hawks drops to 3-4 on the season. They face Tufts tomorrow at noon in the consolation game of the Rutland Herald Invitational tournament.
