RUTLAND, Vt. - The Spartans found the net first but wouldn't score again as New England College came back to earn the 3-1 victory at Spartan Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Castleton scored just four minutes into the game but the Pilgrims answered with three goals over the final 56 minutes to improve to 4-8-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the ECAC East The loss drops the Spartans to 6-7 and 5-3 in conference play.

The Spartans got on the board first, at the 15:59 mark, behind some great teamwork. Junior Jade Werger (Maple Ridge, B.C.) pushed a loose puck up to classmate Hanna Martini (Fayston, VT) in the neutral zone to create a 3-1 rush for the Spartans. She skated along the boards and back handed a pass to the front of the net that found Molly Howard (Shelburne, VT), who was rushing to the net and tipped the puck home.

Castleton held its lead until the 4:57 mark of the second period, when freshman Madyson Moore (Dubuque, Iowa.) corralled a loose puck in front and pushed it past junior Kat Dembowski (Elkridge, Md.) for the goal.

Tied at one after two periods, NEC got the eventual game-winner just 1:30 into the final period. Kassandra Flint (Sherwood, Ore.) came in the offensive zone one-on-one and wristed a shot over the glove side shoulder of Dembowski to make it a 2-1 game.

The Pilgrims added an insurance goal at the 9:17 mark as a deflected shot squirted past Dembowski and Chelsie Boroski (Sterling Heights, Mich.) was there to finish it home for the 3-1 lead.

Dembowski was solid after missing the past two contests, stopping 36 shots in net. Her counterpart Kristen Conners (Weymouth, Mass.) was only forced to make 15 saves between the pipes.

The Spartans return to action on Jan. 17, when they host Williams at 7 p.m.