HENNIKER, N.H. – Castleton fell behind 7-1 midway in the second quarter and never cut the deficit below two the rest of the way as New England College pulled away for a 17-11 victory to capture the 2016 North Atlantic Conference Championship. 

The Spartans actually outshot the Pilgrims 40-39 in the contest, had one less shot on goal, 23-22, and picked up eight more ground balls, 30-22, though ultimately it wasn't enough as they ended their season with an 11-7 record. NEC turned the ball over just 12 times despite only winning 8 of 30 faceoffs, but still improved to 13-6 overall. 

Junior Louis Alhage led the team with six assists and four ground balls while Kyle Lutinski scored four times on five shots. Tom Pardew had two goals and one assist while Joshua Gosselin was dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 18 of 23 faceoffs and picking up eight ground balls. 

NAC Tournament MVP Sean Largay paced NEC with five goals and three assists for eight points. Jarred Sausville added three goals while Skyler Saunders posted two goals and four assists. 

The Pilgrims opened up the scoring just 2:54 into the contest and led 2-0 before Ryan Stone found Lutinski to make it 2-1 with 8:24 left in the first. Matt Richard responded with a pair of goals to give NEC a 4-1 lead through one quarter. 

Three goals in the first six minutes of the second pushed the lead to 7-1 for the Pilgrims. Taylor Swarter ended the run with 7:55 left and scored once more in the final minute for a 7-3 deficit at the half. 

Lutinski and Stone both scored man-up goals in the first 57 seconds after halftime to trail just 7-5. Largay scored beforet Peyton Faasse responded with 10:51 left to make it 8-6. However, Largay jumpstarted a 4-0 spurt over the next six minutes to put NEC up 12-6 with four minutes left in the period. Pardew responded with a pair of goals to trail by four after three quarters. 

There would be no Castleton comeback, as the Pilgrims scored four of the first five goals of the fourth and led 16-9 with 6:39 in regulation. The Spartans responded with two of the final three scores for the six-goal margin. 

NEC's William Platt earned the win in net as he made 11 saves while allowing 11 goals. Peter Latulippe took the loss as he gave up ten goals over 30:57 without making a save. Romello Lindsey gave up seven goals with five saves in 29:03. 

Swarter, Pardew and Gosselin were named to the NAC All-Tournament Team for the Spartans.

Castleton's senior class of Latulippe, Swarter, Matt Levins, Graeme Pike and Zach Devoid finish with 51 career victories, tied for the most by a single class in program history.