NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Castleton held a 1-0 lead midway through the second, but couldn't hold on, as the Norwich Cadets claimed a 4-1 victory in the New England Hockey Conference Quarterfinals at Kreitzberg Arena this evening.

The Spartans were outshot in the contest 43-22, but was able to capatalize on one of their three power play opportunities. Will Laking provided the club's lone goal of the game, while Ryan Mulder turned in a fantastic performance with 39 saves and a .907 save percentage. Castleton finishes the 2015-16 season with an 8-16-2 overall record.

William Pelletier, Austin Evans, Paul Russell and Kevin Salvucci produced the scoring for the Cadets to help the squad reach the NEHC Semifinals and improve to 16-7-2 overall. In net, Braedan Ostepchuk picked up his 13th win of the year after allowing just one goal with 21 saves.

Following a scoreless opening period of play, the Spartans took the first lead of the game 7:14 into the second after Laking scored a power play goal. Patrick Thornton received the puck in the faceoff circle before delivering a pass through the crease to Laking, who slotted the puck home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. 

That lead didn't last long, however, as the Cadets responded with two goals over the next eight minutes of play to jump in front by one. At the 12:27 mark, Evans scored the equalizer off a feed from Alec Brandrup, and just over two minutes later, Pelletier received a pass at the far post and slipped it home to put the hosts ahead, 2-1.

Norwich struck again with 6:14 left in the third when Russell grabbed his 13th score of the year. The junior forward took the puck from the defensive zone, skated around a defender in the neutral zone and slipped a shot under the pads of Mulder to double the Cadet advantage. Salvucci tacked on another score in the final two mintues of play to bring the game to its final score, 4-1.