Rutland, Vt. - Castleton was outshot, outskated, and for some of the game outplayed by the Williams Ephs on Sunday night, but were still able to come away with a 3-2 overtime win at Spartan Arena. Paula Stephens made 45 saves and Jessica Spidle tallied the game-winner to propel the Spartans to victory.

Michelle Baillargeon finished with a goal and an assist for the Spartans, and captain Brie Narodowy netted a goal as well. Hannah Wright and Lisa Kilroy each earned assists in the win. Castleton was outshot 46-23 on the evening but still prevailed over the Ephs.

In the first period, Michelle Baillargeon put the Spartans up on the board with a goal in the fifth minute of play. The forward redirected a shot from Wright to put the home team ahead 1-0 in the early going. 

Williams answered with a short-handed tally to even the score. Christina Bravi stripped a Castleton defender and then outskated the Spartans to earn a breakaway. The forward finished the play with a deke to the glove side and narrowly beat Stephens to tie the game.

In the second period, Castleton took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Narodowy. Lisa Kilroy found the captain on a breakaway and Narodowy punished the Ephs' defensive mistake, burying the puck top shelf to put the Spartans ahead.

In the third, Williams tied the game with just over seven minutes left. Emily Kreuger buried a rebound off of a shot by Gwendolyn Schultz, tying the game. The Ephs had several opportunities to net the game-winner in the final frame of regulation, but Paula Stephens stood on her head, stopping 18 shots in the third period alone.

In the overtime period, Castleton struggled to generate an offense, but received a fortunate break. Baillargeon cleared the zone right to Spidle, who was streaking toward the Williams net. Spidle received the puck and wristed a knuckling floater from behind the blue line toward the net. The puck took an odd bounce and beat Rachel Nguyen to give Castleton the 3-2 win.

The Spartans improve to 5-4-0 on the season and earn their first ever win against a NESCAC opponent. Castleton will return to action on December 6 when they travel to New England College to resume ECAC East play.