Rutland, Vt. – The Castleton women's hockey team started its season off strong with a commanding 3-0 victory over visiting Oswego St. at Spartan Arena on Friday evening.

The Spartans scored three times in the first two periods and sophomore netminder Paul Stephens (Seattle, Wash.) did the rest, stopping 28 shots to earn the shutout win. Castleton opens its season 1-0 for first time in program history while the Lakers drop to 0-1.

Oswego St. came out strong early, but was repeatedly denied by Stephens. The Spartans countered and were eventually rewarded 16:37 into the period. Junior Dani Roberts (St. Albans, Vt.) controlled the puck at the near point and fired a pass across toward the far post for Nicoline Jensen (Hellerup, Denmark) who fired it into the back of the net.

Just 35 seconds into the second period Castleton upped its lead to 2-0. Senior Jade Werger (Maple Ridge B.C.) scored on a shot right in front off an assist from Anna Daniels (Falun, Sweden).

Daniels got in on the scoring at the 12:00 mark. She received a pass from Roberts at mid-ice and took it down the left side of the ice before ripping a shot past Tori Trovato (Fulton, N.Y.).

Trovato finished the night with 32 saves in the loss.

The Spartans return to the ice on Saturday for a 2 p.m. showdown with Cortland St. at Spartan Arena.