GORHAM, Me. – The Castleton men's hockey team earned their first sweep over a conference rival since 2017-18 in their matchup against Southern Maine Saturday afternoon, besting the Huskies 5-2 on the road to clinch the season series and the team's fourth NEHC win.
 
Bryce Irwin continued his hot stretch of play for the Spartans (6-14-0, 4-9-0 NEHC), tallying two goals and one helper, while other scores came from Jackson Edwards, Zack Whittaker, and Andrew Stefura. Brandon Collett made his fourth straight start between the pipes for Castleton, saving 28 of the 30 shots he faced en route to his fourth win of the year.
 
The Huskies (5-15-2, 4-11-0 NEHC) opened the scoring in Saturday's contest, taking a 1-0 lead at the 7:20 mark on a goal from Nick Ritmo, but it did not take long for the Spartans to respond and take their own lead thanks to the play of Irwin.
 
Fifteen minutes into the period, a shot from Southern Maine found its way back to the blue line where Justin Stairs battled for and eventually got it to Irwin. The sophomore carried it across the ice and into the Huskies' zone before sending a low shot to the far post that snuck by USM's netminder and in to tie the game at one.
 
The score also came on a delayed penalty call, meaning the Spartans went on the powerplay directly following the goal, and just 19 seconds later it was Irwin striking again on feeds from Whittaker and Zach Papapetros to give Castleton the 2-1 lead. The goals were Irwin's third and fourth of the season to go along with his 12 assists for a team-high 16 on the season.
 
Before the period could end, however, it was the Huskies striking again to knot the game at two heading into the first break.
 
After a back-and-forth start to the second period, the Spartans reclaimed the lead once again on a goal from Edwards. A faceoff in Southern Maine's zone was won by the Huskies, but an attempted pass by their goalkeeper was picked off by the freshman, who easily sent it into the back of the net for his third score of the year to put Castleton back ahead 3-2.
 
Another freshman would add himself to the scoring column at the 14:10 mark of the period in Whittaker, as the Victoria, B.C.-native capitalized on the man advantage and slotted home a beautiful feed from Irwin to make it a 4-2 game.
 
The sides would go scoreless for a stretch of play before Southern Maine pulled their goalie with just over two minutes left in regulation, allowing Stefura to score his team-best ninth goal of the season on the empty net and seal the 5-2 win for the Spartans.
 
Castleton returns to action Tuesday, January 31 for a rematch against Skidmore College, with puck drop at 7 p.m.