GORHAM, Maine – Castleton led 1-0 after the first and never looked back en route to its second win of the season with a 5-1 victory over the Southern Maine Huskies in New England Hockey Conference action this afternoon at the USM Ice Arena.

The Spartans snapped their five-game losing streak with the victory and improved to 2-12-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the conference. The Huskies, meanwhile, are now winless in their last six games and fall to 5-9-1 (2-7 NEHC) on the season.

Five different Castleton players scored in the victory, led by Fabio Kläy, who tallied a career-high three points from one goal and two assists. Ryan O'Toole, Bart Moran and Derek Gingera recorded one goal each, while goalie Ryan Mulder picked up the victory after producing 24 saves and tallying his first career score. 

Chad O'Brien provided the lone Southern Maine goal in the game, despite the Huskies holding the edge in shots (25-16) and having five power play opportunities. Kyle Shapiro took the loss in net for the hosts with four goals allowed and nine saves in 39 minutes of action. 

After more than 14 minutes of scoreless play to start the game, Castleton struck first to take the lead. Caleb Fizer and Kläy provided the service on the play, as O'Toole knocked home his first goal of the season with 5:25 left in the first to hand the away side a 1-0 advantage. 

Things looked bad for the Spartans early in the second when the squad was hit with a five-minute major, but the team responded just 15 seconds after the call with a short-handed effort to double their advantage to two. Moran received credit for the goal after a failed clearance attempt took a deflection off Shapiro's skate and slid into the back of the net, putting the visitors in front 2-0.

The Huskies got one back just over three minutes later on that same power play when O'Brien finished a shot top shelf to cut the hosts' deficit back to one. However, at the 11:27 mark, Castleton found an answer with a power play score of its own to extend its advantage back to two. Dan Fitzgerald delivered a pass to Kläy between the hash marks, where the freshman forward ripped a shot home for his third score of the season and second in as many games.

Just over six minutes later, Gingera found the back of the net to cap off a three-goal second period and to hand the squad a commanding 4-1 lead. Ryan Smith created the opportunity with a pinpoint cross-ice pass that led to Gingera's one-timer, which put Castleton ahead by three with 2:25 left in the second. 

The Spartans tacked on one more late in the third when Mulder scored an empty-netter on a clearance attempt to bring the game to its final score, 5-1. 

Castleton returns to the ice next weekend when it hosts conference foes New England College and St. Anselm at Spartan Arena.