RUTLAND, Vt. – Castleton's women's hockey team (3-0, 1-0 ECAC East) defeated Southern Maine (0-1, 0-1 ECAC East) on Friday 5-0 to move to 3-0 on the seaosn, marking the first time in school history that a team has started a season with three straight wins.

The Spartans dominated the match, outshooting the opposition by 12 and killing off all five powerplays. Brianna Keats, Lisa Kilroy, Taylor Steadman, Anna Daniels and Molly Howard all scored, while Paula Stephens recorded her second consecutive shutout in net.

Castleton attacked the opposition early on in the contest, missing wide with a pair of shots in the opening minutes. At the 4:47 marker, the Huskies had a powerplay opportunity after a Castleton player was given a minor penalty, but the home side saw through it with no damage.

The Spartans took control of the game in the second period by scoring three goals to grab a 3-0 advantage. Steadman opened the scoring at the 5:54 mark after deking a defender and finishing a shot past USM's netminder, Liz Bergstrom, into the top corner of the net.

At 9:43 into the second, the hosts tacked on a second goal after Kilroy found theh back of the net for the first time this year. Samantha McNeil fired a shot that Bergstrom stopped, but Kilroy was able to tap in the rebound to double the home side's advantage.

Just under three minutes later at 12:20, Keats scored tallied her third score of the season to push Castleton's lead to 3-0. Sam Pion rifled a shot that was deflected, and a scramble for the puck took place around the net until Keats gathered it and finished the puck past the goaltender. 

The home side continued to push into the Huskies zone, and at 10:55 in the third, Daniels gave the Spartans a four-goal lead with a short-handed goal. Lisa Buratynski and Pion provided the service as Daniels slipped it past USM's netminder to make it 4-0.

At the 16:19 marker, Castleton grabbed its fifth goal of the contest when Howard finished a rebound off of Sabrina Hosner's shot from the point to give the hosts a 5-0 lead.

Stephens improved to 2-0 for the Spartans after stopping 13 shots in 60 minutes between the pipes, while Bergstrom made 20 saves in net for USM in the losing effort.

Castleton resumes its season tomorrow afternoon when it squares off with the University of New England at Spartan Arena in ECAC East aciton beginning at 3 pm.