RUTLAND, Vt. – The Spartans held a 2-0 lead in the first period, but couldn't hold on as the Southern Maine Huskies captured a come-from-behind, 5-3 victory at Spartan Arena on Monday evening. 

Will Laking, Brian Greene and Simon Teodorsson scored one goal apiece for the Spartans, but the eam gave up three goals in the final 16:37 of play en route to falling to 10-15 (8-10 ECAC East) on the season. The Huskies, meanwhile, snapped their five game winless run with the victory and improved to 6-18-1 overall and 3-14-1 in conference play.  

Following a scoreless initial frame, the Spartans wasted little time to grab the lead in the second period, as Laking netted his team-leading ninth goal of the season just 39 seconds into the stanza. Brock Labelle delivered the puck into the crease to Laking, who finished it top shelf to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Castleton struck again to make it 2-0. At the 2:26 mark,Teodorsson skated around the back of the net and slipped a wraparound shot just underneath the pads of Southern Maine's Nate DelGiudice to double the Spartans' advantage and record his first career collegiate goal.

The Huskies found an answer just over a minute later when Todd Bannerman finished home his fourth goal of the year. Castleton's Ryan Mulder pushed aside Alex Pantalone's initial shot, but Bannerman was there to knock home the rebound and cut the visitors' deficit back to one. 

Just past the midway point in the second, the visitors received a penalty shot after a Spartan player fell on the puck to deny a goal. Daniel Mattsson stepped up to take the penalty and finished his shot just inside the near post to even the game at two.

Southern Maine completed the comeback when they took a 3-2 lead at the 3:23 mark in the final frame when Chad O'Brien deflected Victor Ivarsson's shot into the back of the net, giving the visitors their first lead of the game. 

Castleton, however, showed their resiliency and fought back to even the score at the 4:34 mark in the third period after Brian Greene found the back of the net for the third straight game. With the Spartans down a man, Greene intercepted a pass, skated the length of the ice and fired a shot past Matt Michals to make it 3-3. 

With the game on level terms, both teams battled to take control of the contest, and with 7:35 remaining in regulation, the Huskies did just that when they reclaimed the lead. On a two-on-one break, Bannerman put a shot on goal that Mulder knocked away, but Stephen Gallo corralled the rebound and fired it into the back of the net, handing the away side a 4-3 lead.

With 11 seconds remaining in the frame, Brett Norman scored an empty netter to secure a 5-3 victory for Southern Maine and snap Castleton's three-game winning streak. 

In net, Mulder compiled 23 saves in his tenth loss of the season. Matt Michals, meanwhile, picked up his second win of the season after accounting for 17 of the Huskies' 38 saves in the final period of play.

Castleton returns to the ice this Saturday at 7 pm when it faces the University of New England Nor'easters in the quarterfinals of the ECAC East Tournament.