RUTLAND, Vt. – Castleton was shutout for just the second time this season, as the Holy Cross Crusaders scored three goals in the final period to claim a 4-0 victory at Spartan Arena on Friday afternoon. 

The Spartans were outshot in the contest 25-20 and failed to kill off one of its three penalties. With the loss, Castleton falls to 9-9-1 (4-6-1 ECAC East) on the season, while Holy Cross moves to 12-5-1 overall and 8-2 in the ECAC East.

In the opening minutes of play, the Spartans and Crusaders traded possession before the visitors' first power play opportunity of the game swayed the momentum in their favor.

At the 8:34 mark, Holy Cross nearly took the lead when Kara Violette fired a shot from the near point, but Castleton's Paula Stephens made a fantastic save, including grabbing the puck in the air while falling down, to keep the game scoreless.

However, just 11 seconds later the Crusaders capitalized on the power play when Izzy Bagi found the back of the net. Taylor McGee was credited with an assist on the play, as Bagi's slapshot through traffic beat Stephens to give the away side a 1-0 lead. 

Halfway through the second period, Castleton had its best scoring chance of the game. After blocking a shot, Molly Howard gathered the loose puck and tried to slip a shot past Holy Cross' Alexandra Stevenson, but the goalie was able to deny the effort and preserve the away side's one-goal advantage.

The Crusaders doubled their lead less than five minutes into the final period when Kara Violette tallied her tenth goal of the season. On a two-on-one break, Mackenzie Boardman delivered a pass across the face of the net to Violette, who finished it home, making it 2-0 in favor of the away side with 15:11 remaining in the game. 

Emily Lissner scored for the fourth time this season at the 9:05 mark before Boardman tacked on another Holy Cross goal in the final minutes of the game, as the Crusaders secured a 4-0 victory at Spartan Arena.

In net, Stephens suffered her fourth loss of the season after allowing four goals with 21 saves. Stevenson, meanwhile, improved to 7-3-1 after recording her fourth shutout of the year with 20 saves.

The Spartans return to the ice on Feb. 6 at 7 pm when they host the St. Michael's Purple Knights in conference play at Spartan Arena.