SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Castleton's men's hockey team suffered a 7-3 loss this evening against the Skidmore Thoroughbreds in New England Hockey Conference Action at the Saratoga Springs Ice Rink.

The Spartans were outshot in the contest 31-24 and failed to kill off two of their five power plays, as the squad dropped to 6-15-1 on the season (5-9-1). Fabio Kläy led the attack with two points from one goal and one assist, while Trevor Hanna and Patrick Thornton added goals of their own.

Six different Thoroughbreds scored in the contest, led by Mark Cibelli, who tallied two goals in the contest. Will Golden, Adam Moodie and Quentin Campbell contributed two points of their own to help the squad pick up its first win in its last six contests and improve to 5-13-4 overall (5-7-3 NEHC). 

The Spartans took the opening lead of the contest with a goal just 4:54 into the first. Simon Teodorsson and Kläy picked up assists on the play, as Thornton knocked home his second score of the year to put the away side in front, 1-0.

At the 15:09 mark, Dennis Maier converted a power play for Skidmore to bring the game back to level terms before Cibelli scored his first goal of the game with less than thirty seconds left in the frame to put the hosts ahead, 2-1. 

After pushing their lead to two with a goal in the second, Skidmore opened the third with a pair of goals in the opening 8:22 of the frame to jump in front, 5-1. Castleton cut their deficit back to three when Hanna scored at the 14:50 mark, but the Thoroughbreds answered just 43 seconds later with an empty netter to push their lead back to four.

The Spartans continued to fight, and with 3:23 left in regulation, Kläy netted his team-best eighth goal of the year to make it 6-3. Unfortunately, Skidmore tacked on another empty-net score in the final 2:20 of play to secure a 7-3 victory. 

In net, Ryan Mulder suffered his ninth loss of the season after producing 24 saves with five goals allowed. His counterpart, Jack McDonald, captured his fourth win of the year with a 21-save performance. 

The Spartans look to split the season series with Skidmore tomorrow evening at 7 pm when they host the Thoroughbreds at Spartan Arena.