RUTLAND, Vt. – The Spartans looked to be rallying in the third period before the second-ranked Cadets scored two goals in a span of 2:16 en route to capturing a 5-1 victory at Spartan Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Overall, Castleton was outshot 42-25 and gave up two power play goals in the contest. Ryan Smith was credited with an assist, and Braedan Moffatt tallied the lone Spartan goal, as Castleton dropped to 3-5 in the ECAC East and 3-8 on the season. With the win, Norwich remains unbeaten at 9-0-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference.

The Cadets controlled the possession and dominated play from the opening minutes, as the visitors outshot the Spartans 16-7 in the opening period of play.

Castleton had its first real scoring opportunity at the 9:04 mark in the first on a two-on-one break. Jimmy Burns fired a shot that was saved by Norwich's goalie Ty Reichenbach. Charles Bando was able to gather the rebound, but his attempt flew just wide as the game remained scoreless.

Just over midway through the initial frame, the Cadets came close to striking first. Corey Hale received the puck from a faceoff and delivered a shot from the point, but his attempt went post wide and was cleared with no damage.

Norwich found the back of the net on a power play opportunity just 12 seconds before the end of the first period. After the Spartans goalie, Ryan Mulder, pushed a shot aside, a scrum ensued in front of the net. William Pelletier eventually gathered the puck and finished it home to give the away side a 1-0 lead heading into the second frame.

The Cadets doubled their lead at 8:37 in the second stanza. Alec Thieda and Gerard McEleney received assists, as Anthony Flaherty slipped a shot underneath Mulder's pads to give Norwich a two-goal advantage.

With less than five minutes remaining in the period, the Spartans nearly cut their deficit to one when Eric Mack found Burns cutting towards goal, but the freshman's shot flew just wide of the post.

Two minutes into the final frame, Moffatt brought some spark to Castleton when he cut the deficit back to one with his second goal of the year. Smith delivered a pass to Moffatt from the baseline, and the freshman forward, while falling down, fired a shot that went bar down and across the goal line to make the score 2-1.

However, Norwich wasted little time to regain its two-goal advantage after Flaherty found the back of the net at the 4:38 mark. Dean Niezgoda and Nevin Lawler provided the service, as Flaherty scored his second goal of the game to give the visitors a 3-1 lead

Less than two minutes later, the Cadets extended their lead to three when Pelletier capitalized on a mistake by the Spartans. After a turnover at the blue line gave Pelletier a 1-on-1 opportunity, the sophomore deked past Mulder and finished the puck just inside the post to make it 4-1.

With 17 seconds remaining in regulation, Flaherty completed his hat trick with Norwich's second power play goal of the contest, as the Cadets secured a 5-1 victory.

In net, Mulder dropped to 2-5 on the season after making 37 saves in sixty minutes of action for Castleton. Reichenbach, meanwhile, improved to 4-0-1 with 24 saves and just one goal allowed. 

The Spartans are back in action on next Saturday when they travel to Plymouth St. for a non-conference contest beginning at 4 pm.