CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans held two-time defending GNAC Champion Johnson & Wales at bay for the first 80 minutes, but the Wildcats broke through late to secure a 1-0 victory on Tuesday evening at Spartan Stadium. 

Greg Kerns netted the game-winning goal at 81:43 and JWU held off a late Castleton surge to open their season with a 1-0 mark. The Spartans were outshot 24-11 but matched the Wildcats with four corners apiece as they fell to 0-1. 

Tied 0-0 early, Blake Hart nearly put the Spartans in front in the 20th minute with a nice individual effort. Hart beat goalie Jon Robbins to the ball in the box and managed to tap it by him to the far corner. He then tried to chip it inside to the back just inside the near post but it went long past the goal. 

JWU had its best first-half chance to take a 1-0 lead with just nine minutes remaining in the half. Bryan Arboleda received a great through ball inside the 18 and had the defense beat, but a charging Amir Pasic forced a quick shot that sailed over the goalie and the crossbar. 

In the second half, both teams had some early chances. However, in the 54th minute Castleton was assessed a red card, which left the team down a man for the remainder of the contest 

The Wildcats finally capitalized on their man advantage in the 82nd minute. Arboleda crossed the ball from the far sideline, through a few defenders and Greg Kerns finished off the cross right in front for the 1-0 advantage. 

Castleton nearly earned the equalizer in the final 30 seconds after drawing a corner kick. Nihad Basic send the corner into the box with 24 seconds left and Pasic went up for the header and put it on goal, but fellow keeper Jon Robbins made the stop. 

Robbins finished the game with four saves to earn the shutout victory while Pasic totaled nine saves between the pipes in the loss. 

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they travel to play Keene St. at 1 pm on the road.