So. Burlington, Vt. - The Spartans gave up a two-goal lead in the second period, but scored when it mattered to earn a 4-3 overtime win over St. Michael's on Friday night. Will Laking played the part of hero, scoring 1:21 into the extra frame to lift Castleton to a win.

Castleton outshot their opponents nearly three-to-one, notching 37 shots on goal to the Purple Knights' 14, continuing their streak of outshooting opponents in every game so far this season. Dave Donzanti finished with 33 saves for St. Michael's, while Erick Cinotti tallied 11 saves for the Spartans in his fifth win of the year.

In the first period, Castleton seemed to have all the right moves, putting up a pair of goals and keeping the Purple Knights off the board. Ryan Frost tallied his first score of the year off a pass from Ross Herzog in the first two minutes of play, giving the Spartans an early lead. Charles Bando followed up with a power play goal later in the period to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage going into the first intermission.

In the second frame, St. Michael's came out of the locker room firing, and scored a goal that cut the Castleton margin in half just 1:43 into the period. Nick Potter beat Cinotti to make it 2-1, with assists going to Danny Divis and Jake Secatore on the play. 

Castleton reclaimed their two-goal lead midway through the period when Bando struck for the second time. The sophomore notched his first multi-goal game off of assists from Reid Lesswing and Brock Labelle, making the score 3-1. 

In the final minutes of the period, St. Michael's cut the lead again with a goal from Josh Dickman. The forward beat Cinotti to bring the hosting squad within one goal at the second intermission.

The third period brought several opportunities for the Spartans, who outshot the Purple Knights 13-4 in the frame, but yielded no goals for the visiting team. Instead, it was AJ Pieprzak who struck the equalizer for St. Michael's on a power play. With 10:33 to go in the game, the score was locked at 3-3, and would remain that way to force an overtime period.

In the final frame, the Spartans wasted no time applying pressure to the home team. The squad skated hard to open the frame, and just 1:21 into the period, it paid off. Sophomore Will Laking struck gold for the Spartans, notching his first career game-winner to end the contest.

Castleton improves to 5-3-1 on the season with a 4-2-1 mark in the ECAC East and will travel to Norwich on Saturday to take on the Cadets.