RUTLAND, Vt. – The Castleton men's hockey team played to a 4-4 tie with visiting Johnson & Wales on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams at Spartan Arena. 

The Spartans finish the regular season with a record of 6-16-3 and 4-12-2 in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC). Castleton will enter the NEHC Tournament seeded eighth and will travel to nationally first-ranked Norwich next Saturday, Feb. 22. 

The Wildcats finish the season at 4-20-1 (1-16-1 NEHC).

Three out of the four Spartan seniors scored on Senior Day: Troy Taylor, Brian Leonard, Jacob Erwin. Mark Shroyer was also honored before the game before the group played its final game at home.

For the second straight day, a high-scoring first period was had by both teams, and Johnson & Wales held a 4-2 lead through 20 minutes. Castleton bounced back with two goals in the second period, where it stayed that way for the last 30-plus minutes of play. 

Taylor finished with a goal and an assist, as did freshman Calvin Moïse, who finished the weekend with four points and now sits two points ahead in the conference rookie scoring race. 

Austin Withycombe scored twice for the Wildcats to lead all players. Tal Finberg and Max Dorfman scored the other two goals for JWU. 

Taylor scored just 51 seconds into it to give the Spartans an early lead for the second straight night, but Withycombe and Finberg recorded tallies to give the visitors the lead by the 9:20 mark. Then, it took just 18 seconds for Leonard to get his second of the season to tie it up. Johnson & Wales capped the high-scoring period with two more at 10:33 and 15:30 to hold a two-goal lead into the first break. 

Moïse scored on a tip 42 seconds into the middle frame and after back-and-forth action, Erwin slammed in a rebound off an Alex Maunula shot to tie it at four with 5:15 left in the second. 

Castleton successfully killed three minor penalties in the third period while JVU navigated around one shorthanded opportunity. Castleton went 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, while the Wildcats finished 0-for-3. 

Anton Tarvainen tipped in a shot from the point in the overtime period that appeared to win the game, but it was ruled a high-sticking infraction. Shortly after, Matt Bloomer's rip from the point rang off the pipe.