Rutland, Vt. - The Spartans took on their second top-five team on the season, fighting valiantly against #2 Norwich on Friday evening at Spartan Arena. Castleton fell just short of an upset as the Cadets earned a 2-1 come-from-behind win.

A third period power-play goal proved to be the difference as Norwich dominated play in the final frame to steal away the upset from the fiesty Spartans. Paula Stephens finished the game with 37 saves for the Spartans in the losing effort, while Taylor Fairchild turned away 22 shots for the Cadets.

Castleton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Nicoline Jensen found the back of the net. The forward collected a rebound after Anna Daniels ripped a shot on net that was turned away by Taylor Fairchild. Jensen ripped a wrister top-shelf on the stick side of the recovering goalie to put Castleton up 1-0 just under four minutes into the game. 

The goal gave the Spartans their first lead over the Cadets since the 2011 season, after 413 straight minutes against the squad. The last lead the Spartans had held over the Cadets came in an eventual 8-1 loss on Jan. 29, 2011. Castleton's Laura Szwed netted a goal 2:24 into that game to put the Spartans ahead 1-0. In the five meetings since, Castleton had not held a lead.

The Spartans surrendered a late first period goal to even the score before the first intermission. Emily MacKinnon evened the score with a putback goal with five seconds remaining in the frame. Brittany Sharman ripped a slap shot from the right point that Castleton Paula Stephens turned away. The puck skittered into the right slot where MacKinnon capitalized to tie the game.

The second period flew by with both teams having several chances. Through two periods, the Spartans had outshot the Cadets 19-15 and the score remained tied 1-1.

In the third, the second-ranked team in the nation began to assert themselves, controlling the pace of play. The Cadets outshot the Spartans 24-4 in the third period, pelting Stephens with several attempts and making it difficult for the Spartans to clear the zone. 

Halfway through the final frame, Castleton took a costly penalty, allowing the Cadets a power play. Norwich took advantage, scoring a power-play goal with 9:33 remaining in the game to go up 2-1. Marie-Philip Guay fired a wrister from the right slot that was saved and popped up into the air. Tori Charron attacked the crease, where the puck bounced off the Norwich senior and over a sprawling Stephens into the net. 

Castleton pressed to find an opportunity late in the game but failed to convert, falling to Norwich 2-1. This wasn't the first time the Spartans played a highly-ranked opponent tough. Earlier this season, Castleton pushed #1 Plattsburgh St. to the brink, falling 1-0 to the Cardinals in a non-conference battle. 

Norwich improves to 6-1-0 on the season with win, including a 5-0-0 mark in the ECAC East. With the loss, Castleton falls to 3-4-0 on the year, with a 1-2-0 record in the ECAC East. The Spartans will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 23 with a home match against St. Michael's.