RUTLAND, Vt. - The Spartans played even with Holy Cross through a period and a half, but the Crusaders proved to be too much in the end as they finished with the 4-1 victory at Spartan Arena on Friday evening.
Castleton had their chances in the game but ultimately dropped to 6-9 overall and 5-4 in the ECAC East with the loss. Holy Cross got a hat trick from senior Stacey Hochkins (New Boston, Mich.) to improve to 11-1-2 and 8-1 in the ECAC East.
The first period was a scoreless affair, as Holy Cross totaled 13 shots on junior goalie Katharyn Dembowski (Elkridge, Md.). Castleton, meanwhile, forced Carly Dominick-Sobol (Syracuse, N.Y.) to make five saves.
The Spartans first penalty came back to bite them as the Crusaders capitalized at the 7:49 mark of the second period. Hochkins got the puck skating across the ice and took a second to gather herself before firing a wrist shot from the left circle over the shoulder of Dembowski to make it 1-0.
Castleton came out aggressive after the goal and was rewarded 11:37 into the period. Junior Eileen Coyne (North Attleboro, Mass.) ripped a shot from the left point and senior Meagan Hulbert (Barre, Vt.) corralled the rebound off Dominick-Sobol's pads and backhanded it over her outstretched stick for the equalizer.
Holy Cross responded with just 2:34 remaining in the period as Hochkins once again lit the lamp. The senior got the puck in the middle of the Castleton zone and drifted toward the left circle before wristing a shot over Dembowski's right shoulder for the 2-1 advantage.
The Crusaders added to their lead just 1:01 into the third. Hochkins got the puck at mid-ice, skated in one-on-one, made a nice move on Dembowski, and then backhanded it around her right leg pad and into the net.
Holy Cross finished off the scoring at the 17:26 mark as Jessica Frascotti (Needham, Mass.) collected a rebound in front and deposited it in the back of the net before Dembowski had a chance to recover from the first save.
Dembowski finished with 33 saves for the Spartans while her counterpart, Dominick-Sobol, made 17 stops between the pipes.
Castleton returns to action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when the team hosts Salve Regina.
