RUTLAND, Vt. – Zach Sternbach had a hat trick and Alec Robitaille scored twice to lead nationally sixth-ranked Hobart over Castleton in men's hockey action at Spartan Arena on Friday, 8-3.

Glenn Wiswell scored a pair of goals for the Spartans, and Alex Maunula and Troy Taylor each assisted twice, but Castleton's losing skid slides to four and the record slips to 5-12-2 (3-8-1 NEHC) with six conference games remaining. Hobart, a 2019 national semi-finalist, improves to 12-3-3 and 6-3-2.

Castleton had a 3-2 lead, but it was six unanswered goals for the Statesmen starting at the 15:04 mark of the second period that put the game away.

Wiswell put Castleton up 1-0 at the 9:31 mark of the first period and thanks to Brandon Collett's stellar play in goal, the Spartans went into the first intermission with the lead. Hobart got two in 59 seconds to leapfrog into the lead, but Dom Kuziak knotted it up again on a breakaway just 14 seconds after the visitors went ahead. Then, Wiswell scored his second goal at the 8:40 mark of the middle frame with assists from Calvin Moïse and Taylor to get back the Spartan advantage. 

Hobart scored twice more to end the period, both by Sternbach, to cling to a one-goal lead headed to the third. The Statesmen's dominance in the third period resulted in four more goals and a 14-2 edge in shots to seal it.

TJ Schultz, Will Harrison, and Julien Denicourt accounted for the other goals for the Statesmen, who head to Northfield on Saturday to face off with Norwich in a clash of top-10 teams. Andrew Longo and Lawson MacDougall also filled the scoresheet with two helpers each. 

Castleton welcomes the Thoroughbreds of Skidmore College on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tilt. Skidmore came up short at second-ranked Norwich on Friday, 3-2. The team's played to a 2-2 draw back on Nov. 15.