Rutland, Vt-  The Castleton women's ice hockey team (6-3-1) fell to the Panthers of Middlebury College (5-1-1) 3-0 in non-conference action Saturday afternoon at Spartan Arena, ending the Spartans' seven-game home unbeaten streak.

Paul Stephens made 34 saves for the Spartans, who skated hard against the fourth-ranked Panthers, but it wasn't enough to keep Middlebury off the scoreboard. 

Anna Van Kula picked up her first goal of the season for the Panthers at the 9:07 mark of the first period.  Katie Sullivan went around the back of the net before finding Van Kula in the slot, where she pushed the puck underneath the pads of Paula Stephens for the 1-0 lead.

The Spartans used their exceptional penalty kill to their advantage, forcing the Panthers to an 0-for-4 mark with the man-advantage, and keeping the score close throughout the first two periods. Castleton was able to kill off back-to-back penalties, resulting in a 5-on-3 to stay within one goal of Middlebury in the waning minutes of the first period. The Spartans couldn't muster up any offensive chances of their own though, and only had two shots on goal in the frame. 

The second period was dominated heavily again by Middlebury while they outshot the Spartans 14-2 in the period.  The Spartans had a power play chance but were only able to get one shot off before negating it by committing their own penalty. 

The Spartans had their best chance at the 4:40 mark of the third period. Nicoline Jensen skated into the zone with Jade Werger and Anna Daniels flanking her on either side. She took a sharp wrist shot that grazed the pads of Middlebury netminder Madeline Marsh and rattled off the crossbar into the netting behindthe goal. The Spartans kept the pressure up throughout the period but couldn't find the back of the net.

The Panthers added to their lead at the 13:50 mark of the third period. Madeline Joyce picked up a rebounded shot and passed it to Emily Fluke in the slot who fired it passed Stephens for the 2-0 lead. Middlebury added another goal four minutes later for when Molly Downey got out on a breakaway and beat Stephens for the 3-0 lead.

Marsh won her first start of the season with a shutout and finished with 15 saves while Stephens fell to 5-3-1 on the year, finishing with 34 saves.

 

The Spartans drop to 6-3-1 and return to action after the new year as they travel to SUNY-Potsdam on January 8th.