RUTLAND, Vt. - Castleton gave up a goal with just ten minutes remaining as they dropped a tight 4-3 decision to Buffalo St. on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Arena.
The Spartans trailed 3-1 midway through the first but came back to tie it in the third before giving up the eventual game-winner. Buffalo St. improves to 6-6-2 with the victory while Castleton falls to 5-5 on the season.
Freshman Molly Howard (Shelburne, Vt.) opened up the scoring just 1:15 into the game on a great individual effort to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. The first-year stole the puck at mid-ice, beat the only defender in front of her and fired a wrist shot past Jordan Lee's (Colorado Springs, Colo.) glove for score.
Buffalo St. countered at the 4:04 mark as Jeyna Minnick (Rochester, N.Y.) snuck behind the defense and wristed a shot underneath the left pad of Katharyn Dembowski (Elkridge, Md.) to tie the score at one apiece.
The Bengals grabbed the lead just four minutes later on a goal by Courtney Carnes (Winslow, Maine). She fired a shot from the right circle over the left shoulder of Dembowski for the 2-1 lead
Buffalo St. made it 3-1 at the 10:25 mark, when Dembowski went down in front of the net on a shot attempt. The Spartan defense stopped one point-blank shot, but couldn't get in front of Carnes' rebound attempt.
Junior Nicole Ruman (Riverside, Calif.) closed the gap to 3-2 with 3:50 remaining in the first. The junior took a pass from Howard right in front and fired a shot on net that was blocked, however, she got her own rebound and tapped it home for the goal.
After scoreless second period, the Spartans tied it up just 55 seconds into the third. Jade Werger (Maple Ridge, B.C.) brought the puck in the zone and then fired a pass from the top of the right circle to Eileen Coyne (North Attleboro, Mass.) in front. Coyne spun with the puck and deposited it in the net to even the score at 3-3.
The Bengals took back the lead at the 10:45 mark as Brianna Murphy (Depew, N.Y.) found Christine Williams (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) right in front of the net for a wrister past sophomore goalie Kristi Holt (Willington, Conn.).
Castleton made a last minute effort but Lee was able to get her pads on each puck as Buffalo St. skated away with the win. The sophomore finished with 30 saves in net.
Dembowski stopped two shots before departing due to injury. Holt, seeing the first action of her career, was strong in net with 14 saves.
The Spartans are off until after the holiday break, when they host Plymouth St. of North Carolina on Jan. 7 at 3 p.m.
