CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton men's soccer team captured a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon over Maine Maritime to move into a three-way tie for first place in the North Atlantic Conference.

The win puts the Spartans at 13-5-1 overall, with a conference record of 8-1. Maine Maritime falls to 4-11-1 overall, and 3-5-1 in conference play on the season.

Glenn Devine and Nihad Basic each netted goals in the Spartans' victory, while Thomas Kirk and Solo Felekeni recorded assists.

The Spartans got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute when Kirk lofted a long lead pass to Devine, who flicked a header over the outstretched fingertips of the Mariners' keeper. Exactly six minutes later, Tom Samson raced down the left wing, narrowly beating out a Spartan defender and slid a shot just past Castleton goalie Amir Pasic to draw the game even at 1-1 going into the break.

In the second half, the Spartans struck again when Basic took a through ball from Felekeni, collected himself and slotted a shot into the bottom corner of the goal to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead. Castleton had a great look to tack on an insurance goal, with Jake Tietgens rifling a shot off the post in the 63rd minute when he got in one-on-one with the goalie, however the ball was quickly cleared from harms way.

The Spartans once again had a chance to extend their lead in the 78th minute, when Devine and Tietgens had back-to-back shots from in close, however Mariners' netminder Joshua Reeks stepped up with two key saves, preserving the 2-1 score that would carry to the final whistle.

Pasic stopped two shots in his 12th victory of the season for Castleton, while Reeks made six saves in the defeat for the Mariners.

The Spartans held a 15-12 shot advantage in the contest, putting eight of them on goal to Maine Maritime's three.

Today marked the final day of the regular season for Castleton, who will enter the NAC playoffs tied for the top seed. Tournament pairings will be announced at a later time, with the quarterfinal round set to begin on Nov. 1.