CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans climbed back from a two-goal deficit in the final seven minutes to force overtime, but New England College scored with just 2.9 seconds left in the extra session to earn a 11-10 victory on Wednesday night. 

Castleton was tied 10-10 with one minute left in regulation and had the ball, but its shot attempt in the final 15 seconds went wide to force overtime. Joshua Gosselin won the faceoff for the Spartans to start overtime, but a turnover gave NEC back the ball with two minutes left, without getting a shot off. The Pilgrims then held the ball until the final seconds, when Sean Largay ripped a shot from just inside the offensive zone to secure the win. 

New England College outshot the Spartans 53-22 in the contest, including a 31-6 edge in the second and third quarters. The Pilgrims also picked up seven more ground balls as they took sole possession of first place in the NAC, moving to 7-0, and 10-6 overall. Castleton won 15 of 25 faceoffs but dropped to 5-1 in conference play and 8-6 overall. 

Senior Peter Latulippe was strong in net as he finished with 17 saves and just 11 goals allowed in 63:58 while keeping NEC to just 1-for-11 with an extra man. Louis Alhage, Jason Sedell and Tom Pardew each scored twice while Joshua Gosselin won 11 of 17 faceoffs and picked up seven ground balls. 

Skyler Saunders paced the Pilgrims with three goals and one assist but needed 11 shots. Matt Richard dished off five assists while William Pendleton added two goals and three assists. 

NEC scored in the opening minute, but Castleton responded with three goals in the next four minutes for a 3-1 advantage. Sedell added back-to-back goals and the Spartans then stretched their lead to 7-1 with 4:58 left on a goal by Pardew. 

The Pilgrims scored once before the end of the first and then scored five more unanswered goals in the second to tie the contest 7-7 at the half. They scored twice in the opening eight minutes of the third quarter, before Sam Siegel put home a goal with 2:04 left to cut the deficit to 9-8. 

NEC responded early in the fourth, but Pardew scored with 6:05 remaining to bring Castleton within one again, 10-9. Alhage then made a great individual effort to score the game-tying goal with only 2:41 left. The Spartans killed off two penalties in the last two minutes and did get one shot before overtime. 

William Platt earned the win in net as he made five saves while allowing ten goals. 

Castleton returns to action on Saturday when the team hosts Johnson State at 7 pm.