RUTLAND, Vt. –  Castleton recorded its first home victory of the season on Saturday as the defeated New England College (NEC) 5-2 at Spartan Arena.

Overall, the Spartans outshot the opposition by eight and capitalized on two power play opportunities. Brian Greene, Trevor Hanna, Tyler Gaudry, Brock Labelle and Kurt Johnson each scored in the three goal-victory. 

In the opening minutes, Castleton was unable to gain control of the game, as they failed to capitalize on both of their first period power play opportunities. However, with just under three minutes remaining in the opening frame, the hosts struck first as Labelle notched his first goal of the season. Greene's shot was saved by NEC's goalie, Sebastian Andersson, but Labelle was there to finish the rebound and give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. 

Castleton nearly doubled its lead halfway through the middle frame when Derek Gingera rifled a shot that ricocheted off the post and seemed to cross the crease, but the goal was waved off and played continued.

At the 17:54 marker, the Pilgrims grabbed an equalizer. Garrett Brazzier had the puck on the break and delivered a pass to Chris Santello across the net to the far post, and the sophomore forward knocked it home to tie the game at 1-1.

Just over four minutes into the final frame, Castleton reclaimed the lead. The puck was passed around the offensive zone to Greene who sent in a one-timer past Andersson to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

At the 7:10 marker, the hosts pushed their lead to two. Johnson stole the puck on the far side, dribbled towards the center of the ice and wristed in a top shelf shot to make it 3-1. 

21 seconds later, Aaron Madson's goal brought NEC back to within one. Castleton's goalie Mark Hochman stopped a shot and a scramble ensued for the rebound in front of the net. Madson eventually gathered the puck and tapped it in, making it 3-2 with just over 13 minutes remaining in regulation. 

12:15 into the third, Gaudry gave Castleton a two-goal advantage. Simon Teodorsson delivered a pass to Gaudry near the crease and the junior defenseman knocked home the puck to make it 4-2.

With 1:03 remaining in the game, Hanna tacked on an open net goal to extend the Spartans lead to 5-2. 

In net, Thomas Shelley made the start, but left the game 34 seconds into the final frame due to injury. The senior made 21 saves in just over 40 minutes of action for Castleton. His replacement, Hochman, picked up the win after making six saves in the final 19:23 of regulation. Andersson dropped to 1-2 for the Pilgrims after stopping 32 shots in the game.

The Spartans resume their season on Nov. 21 when they travel to UMass Boston for an ECAC East clash beginning at 7 pm.