Box Score CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartan defense didn't allow a goal over the final 33 minutes of action as they earned a hard-fought 10-6 victory over New England College on Wednesday night at Spartan Stadium.
Castleton outshot the Pilgrims 45-28 in the contest and picked up 31 ground balls as they improved to 8-6 and took sole possession of first place in the North Atlantic Conference at 6-0. NEC dropped to 5-1 in conference play and 6-7 overall as they won just 8 of 20 faceoffs.
The Spartan defense, anchored by goalie Sam Polas and defensemen Dillon Robinson, Ryan Crowningshield and Edward Doton limited the Pilgrims to zero goals and just 11 total shots in the entire second half. Senior Zach Davidson provided the offense in the team effort, scoring four times while picking up four ground balls. Sam Frackleton added one goal and two assists while Crowningshield led the defense with seven ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Senior Nick Herzog led the NEC offense with three goals while freshman Matt Richard scored twice and dished off an assist. William Pendleton added two assists and two caused turnovers.
It as the Pilgrims who came out firing as they scored twice in the opening four minutes for the early advantage. Richard made it 3-0 at 5:31 but Alex Denny put the Spartans on the board with 4:57 left. Davidson scored at 1:26 and Swarter tied the game 3-3 with just 23 seconds remaining.
Junior Zach Devoid gave the Spartans the 4-3 lead off a feed from Mike Ruggiero at 12:40. Back-to-back goals from Frackleton and Davidson pushed the lead to 6-3 with 10:57 left. NEC countered with the next two goals to close the gap to 6-5, but Davidson came through with his third for the 7-5 lead. Herzog brought the Pilgrims back within 7-6, and they went into the break down one.
The Spartans started the scoring in the third quarter as Nick Neugebauer found Sam Sigel right in front for the one-touch goal at 11:04. Davidson extended the Castleton lead to 9-6 with 8:24 left in the period as he came from behind the net on a nice individual effort. Zach Devoid finished the scoring in the quarter with a shot on the run from the left side of the net with 5:48 remaining.
In the fourth the Castleton defense limited the Pilgrims to six shots, while NEC goalie Chris Galluzzo was forced to make five saves to keep the Spartans off the board.
Galluzzo took the loss, as he allowed ten goals while making 14 saves. Peter Latulippe made the start and played the first 30 minutes, allowing six goals with two saves. Polas played the second half and stopped all five shots he faced.
The Spartans return to action on Saturday at 3:30 pm when they travel to face Johnson St.
