HENNIKER, N.H.—Castleton State College's Jade Werger (Maple Ridge, B.C.) netted a pair of goals, leading the visiting Spartans past the New England College Pilgrims 2-0 in women's ice hockey action on Saturday afternoon.

 
With the win the Spartans improve to 5-4-0 overall and 5-2-0 in ECAC East play.  The loss drops the Pilgrims to 3-6-1 on the season and 2-4-1 in the ECAC East. The five ECAC victories are the most since the 2008-09 season.
 
Castleton opened the scoring eight minutes into the first period as Jade Werger took advantage of a Spartan power play, netting her fifth goal of the season off assists from Danielle Roberts (St. Albans, Vt.) and Hanna Martini (Fayston, Vt.).
 
The two teams battled through the majority of play scoreless, as the Spartans finished the game 1-for-6 on the power play while the Pilgrims finished 0-for-3 on the power-play.
 
Werger tacked on an empty-netter with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation to propel the Spartans to the victory. Castleton out-shot New England College 33-25 on the afternoon.
 
Junior goaltender Katharyn Dembowski (Elkridge, Md.) recorded 25 saves to earn her third shutout of the season. NEC's Kristen Conners (Weymouth, Mass.) finished with 31 saves between the pipes.
 
NEC returns to action on Tuesday, Jan 3 when they host non-conference opponent Amherst College.  Castleton closes out its opening semester on Sunday, when the Spartans host non-conference foe Buffalo State at 12 p.m.