HENNIKER, N.H. – Castleton fell behind 2-0 in the first period, and was never able to overcome the deficit, as the New England Pilgrims picked up a 7-2 victory on Saturday evening in Lee Clement Arena.

The Spartans were barely outshot, 29-28, and capitalized on one of its three power plays, but the Pilgrim attack proved to be too much en route to capturing the win. Castleton now sits at 5-12 (3-7 ECAC East) on the season after suffering its third straight loss. NEC, meanwhile, improves to 7-8-4 (4-6-2 ECAC East) and has lost just once in its past seven games.

After NEC had built a 3-0 lead in the second period, the Spartans finally got on the board when Ryan Frost netted his team-leading sixth goal of the year. At the 5:57 mark, Patrick Thornton and Christian Thamert were credited with assists, as Frost slotted the puck home to cut the visitors deficit to two.

In the final frame, Derek Gingera scored for the second consecutive game, but it proved to be insignificant as the Pilgrims claimed an important conference victory.

In net, Mark Hochman suffered his third loss of the season after allowing two goals with three saves, while Brody Wagner and Ryan Mulder combined to stop 18 shots with four goals allowed. Their counterpart, Sebastian Andersson, allowed just two goals with 27 saves to record his fifth win of the year.

Castleton returns to action tomorrow at 4 pm when it travels to Manchester, N.H. to face the St. Anselm Hawks (5-10-2, 4-6-2 ECAC East) at Sullivan Arena.