NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The third-ranked Spartans dug themselves a hole on Friday evening, giving up three first-period goals before succumbing to No. 1 Norwich 3-2 in front of a sold out crowd at Kreitzberg Arena.
Castleton gave up a pair of power-play goals just 44 seconds apart early in the first to get down 2-0 in the first. The Cadets added another before the Spartans got a goal back at the end of the period. Castleton cut the deficit to 3-2 in the second, but couldn't tally the equalizer in the final 20 minutes of play.
The loss drops the Spartans from the ranks of the unbeaten as they fall to 9-1 on the season and 6-1 in the ECAC East. Sophomore's Colin Murray (Oshawa, Ont.) and Dru Douglas (Whitby, Ont.) were the goal scorers for Castleton. Norwich, meanwhile, improves to 5-0 conference play and 7-0 overall.
The Cadets took advantage of two first-period penalties by Castleton and a 5-on-3 opportunity near the midway part of the first period to strike first blood.
Junior forward Tory Allan (Davidson, Sask.) opened the scoring at the 8:40 mark of the first period by shoveling home his own rebound on the back hand while standing on top of the crease to give Norwich a 1-0 lead.
Just 44 seconds later sophomore forward Travis Janke (Swift Current, Sask.) made it 2-0 by roofing a shot over Castleton goalie Erick Cinotti's (Mahwah, N.J.) glove after taking a pass from Doug Lindensmith (Sterling Heights, Mich.) in the corner.
Freshman defenseman Nick Poulin (St. Odilon, Quebec) pushed the lead to 3-0 by scoring his first career goal with a rocket from the point that soared over Cinotti's glove. Duszynski picked up his second assist of the night on the play.
Castleton cut into the Norwich lead at the 17:17 mark of the first period when Murray beat Norwich goalie Parker Carroll (West Chester, Pa.) on a breakaway after a Norwich turnover in the offensive zone. Murray skated in on Carroll and took a wrist shot that bounced off Carroll's shoulder and fluttered back down underneath the cross bar and into the net.
The Spartans closed the gap to 3-2 at the 5:28 mark of the second period. Douglas took a pass from Nick Lazorko (Rockwall, Texas) and blasted a shot from the point past Carroll just five seconds into a power play after Lindensmith was whistled for a hooking penalty.
Neither side was able to score again and the Cadets held on for the 3-2 win after Castleton threw everything it had at Carroll to try and find the equalizer in the final minutes of play.
Norwich narrowly outshot Castleton 26-25 and was 2-for-5 on the power play while Castleton was 1-for-3.
Carroll made 23 saves to improve to 6-0-0 on the year. Cinotti turned aside 23 shots as well and was saddled with his first loss of the year for Castleton.
