NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Castleton trailed by two goals in the opening frame and were never able to make a comeback, as the No. 1 Norwich Cadets claimed a 3-0 victory at Kreitzberg Arena on Friday night.

The Spartans were outshot in the contest 30-7 and failed to kill of one of its three penalties. With the loss, Castleton falls to 7-14 (5-9 ECAC East) on the season, whereas the Cadets improve to 19-2-1 and remain undefeated in conference play at 15-0. 

Norwich's Justin Charbeonneau opened the scoring at the 14:49 mark in the opening frame when he netted his third goal of the season. Gerard McEleney and Mitch Byrne were credited with assists on the play, as Charbeonneau finished a shot home to make it 1-0.

Less than three minutes later, Alec Bandrup received the puck off of a turnover and scored his first goal of the game to give the hosts a two-goal advantage heading into the second period.

The Spartans held Norwich scoreless for more than 19 minutes in the second stanza, but with 50 seconds remaining in the frame, Bandrup tacked on his second and the hosts' third goal of the game. On a five-on-three power play, the freshman beat Castleton's Ryan Mulder with a shot from the point to push the Cadets lead to three.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the final period, as the top-ranked team in the nation moved within three points of clinching its 17th straight ECAC East regular season title with a 3-0 win.

In net, Mulder suffered his ninth loss of the season after stopping 27 of the 30 shots that he faced. Ty Reichenbach, meanwhile, recorded his third shutout of the year with seven saves to remain unbeaten at 10-0-1 overall.

The Spartans are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm when they travel to St. Michael's for another matchup between in-state conference foes.