RUTLAND, Vt. – Sophomore Asa Palker scored 1:06 into overtime as the Castleton University men's hockey team stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Southern Maine 4-3 in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action on Friday.

Anton Tarvainen scored late in regulation to push the game to overtime. Glenn Wiswell scored twice for the Spartans, while Troy Taylor and Alex Maunula each registered three assists. 

After a shot whistled over the net and around the corner, Taylor pinched from the blue line and pushed it down to Maunula, who found Palker open in the high slot for the winner on a wrister over the right shoulder of the Huskie goalie and under the crossbar.

Tarvainen tied it with 1:38 left in the third period. Maunula bumped the puck to Palker in the neutral zone for a 2-on-1 rush. After the initial shot was stopped, Tarvainen jammed in the loose puck to knot it at three.

Cody Braga, Adam Papayoanou, and Oskar Bjürstrom accounted for the scoring for Southern Maine, while Mark Tomaschek added a pair of helpers. The Huskies went up 2-0 by the mid-way point of the opening period, but the opening period concluded with a 2-1 advantage for the visitors thanks to the Spartan goal 2:47 after USM stretched the lead to two.      

The Spartans trailed 3-1 until Wiswell scored the second of his two power-play goals with 16 seconds remaining in the second period. He also found the back of the net to make it a 2-1 contest at the 13:14 mark of the first period on a tip. Calvin Moïse picked up the primary assist by putting the shot on goal.

Castleton was dominant in the faceoff circle and walked away with a 54-24 edge in the department. The Spartans also out-shot the Huskies, 37-24.

Kyle Alaverdy earned his first-career win in goal for Castleton in a 21-save effort. Paul Léger made 33 saves in the effort for Southern Maine. 

Castleton completes its weekend homestand on Saturday as it will host New England College at Spartan Arena at 4 p.m. The Pilgrims were shutout at Norwich on Friday, 7-0.