RUTLAND, Vt. – The Castleton men's hockey team kicked off its season with a victory on Friday evening, defeating Wentworth by a final score of 3-1 at Spartan Arena.

The Spartans are 1-0-0 after the opening-night victory, while Wentworth falls to 0-1-0 with the loss. The game got off to a late start, as travel difficulties for the visiting team pushed the start time back to 8:40 p.m. for a game that was slated to start at 7 p.m.

Seniors Bart Moran and Kevin Rosset each tallied a goal in the victory, while sophomore Gus Carlsson netted one of his own. Ryan Mulder stopped 28 shots in the contest, picking up the victory in net.

For Wentworth, Ryan Hubbard made 27 saves in goal, and Paul Filippone tallied the lone goal late in the contest.

Both sides got off to a tough start, going scoreless and wasting a handful of power-play chances in the opening frame. In the second period, the Spartans found their legs, finding the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. The puck cycled up to Patrick Thornton at the left point, who sent a wrist shot towards the net. Rosset was right on the doorstep, deflecting the puck past Hubbard to give his squad an edge. Late in the second period, the Leopards were hit with a two-minute minor for interference, which led to Castleton's fifth power-play chance of the game. The Spartans converted this time, as Bart Moran rifled a wrist shot from the point past Hubbard on assists by rookies Henning Dahlberg and Troy Taylor to double the lead to 2-0 in favor of the home team.

Castleton wasn't done, opening the third period with a quick power-play goal—the second of the game. On the faceoff following a Wentworth penalty, Nick Kovalchik won the puck back to the point, where Carlsson let go a shot that beat Hubbard to the top-left corner to push the lead to three goals.

With time winding down in the contest and the Leopards still facing a three-goal deficit, they pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. The decision proved to have a positive effect, as Filippone knocked a rebound past an outstretched Mulder to break the shutout with just 1:32 to play in the game. The Wentworth net remained empty for the remainder of the game, and Castleton twice ricocheted shots of the post from long range in search of an empty-net goal.

Castleton held a narrow, 30-29 shot edge in the contest, and a 48-36 advantage in face-offs. The Spartans converted two of their eight power-play opportunities, while Wentworth went 0-5 with a man-advantage.

The Spartans are back in action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Potsdam for a non-conference matchup.