RUTLAND, Vt. – Castleton had a 4-2 lead in the final period of play, but failed to hang on as the Hawks rallied with three goals in the third to beat the Spartans 5-4 in Spartan Arena on Friday night.

With the loss, the Spartans drop to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in the ECAC East. Defenseman Brian Greene tallied three points from one goal and two assists, while Charles Bando, Bart Moran and Ryan Frost each found the back of the net in the losing effort. 

Just over a minute into the game, the Spartans grabbed their game's opening score when Bando found the back of the net. At the 1:01 marker, the junior forward had a breakaway opportunity and finished it past the goalie to make it 1-0.

Castleton doubled its lead 6:43 into the initial frame after Moran netted his first goal of the year. The Spartans intercepted a pass just beyond the center line. Moran then gathered the puck, giving him a one-on-one opportunity with St. Anselm's goalie, Shane Joyce. The sophomore forward deked the netminder and finished it into the back of the net to give the home side a two-goal advantage.

The Hawks got on the board at the 9:01 marker in the opening period of play when Nick Leonard fired a shot from the top of the point that deflected off Bryan Sullivan and past Castleton's goalie, Ryan Mulder, cutting the opposition's deficit back to one.

The hosts wasted little time in the second period to push their lead back to two after Greene scored his second goal of the season. Castleton had a 2-on-1 break, and Corbin Marcotte delivered a pass across the net that Greene buried home.

The opposition responded at the 9:31 marker when Ryan Peterson brought the Hawks back within one. Brendon Kerrigan rifled a shot on frame that Mulder knocked away, but Peterson was there to knock in the rebound and make it 3-2.

The Spartans opened the final period in similar fashion to the previous two, as the hosts grabbed a goal just 1:52 into the frame. Will Laking found Frost at the blue line who skated towards the far side of the goal and beat Joyce with a shot that flew into the top shelf, pushing Castleton's lead to 4-2. 

Trailing by two in the third period, the visitors started to control the game and create threatening plays in Castleton's zone, and at the 8:21 marker, recorded their third goal of the contest. With a scramble in front of the net, Johnny Daniels was able to gather the puck and knock it home to get St. Anselm's back within one.

Just over five minutes later, the Hawks tacked on the equalizer when Matt Buckley slapped the puck home to make it 4-4 at the 12:47 marker. 

13:51 into the final frame, St. Anselm's grabbed its first lead of the game. A shot was rifled into the crease by a Hawks player that bounced off of Jenkins and past Mulder for the game-winning goal.

Overall, the Spartans won the faceoff battle 47-32, but were outshot by the opposition by six. Mulder picked up the loss for Castleton after stopping 24 shots in goal, while Joyce notched his first win of the season with 20 saves in 60 minutes between the pipes.

The Spartans return to the ice on Saturday when they square off at Spartan Arena with New England College in an ECAC East battle beginning at 4 pm.