RUTLAND, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's hockey team skated away with its second conference triumph Friday night, defeating New England College, 2-1.

Cam Reid and Andrew Stefura provided the scoring with their second and fifth goals of the season, respectively. Assists were credited to Chance Heaphy, Zack Whittaker, Anthony Persi, and Josef Vyvial with Heaphy's apple marking his first career point.

Dominic Rodrigue stood tall for the Spartans (3-3-0, 2-1-0 NEHC), turning aside 31 Pilgrim (1-4-1, 0-4-1 NEHC) shots to improve to 2-1 on the year. The defense tied its season high of 13 blocks, led by Cedrick Theodore with a quartet of stops. 

Midway through the opening stanza, Zach Trempner and Balint Mesterhazy won back-to-back faceoffs to give VTSU Castleton possession. Looking to stabilize the puck on offense, Heaphy skated back to the blue line and found an outlet to Whittaker. An immediate dump to Reid, a fellow British Columbian, allowed the first-year Spartan to weave past a Pilgrim and send in the contest's first tally.

NEC received two power play opportunities in the second period's early going, but the Spartans' penalty kill was successful in both man-down scenarios. Just seconds after returning to even strength, Vyvial deflected a pass to Persi who found Stefura across center ice. With only the goalie to beat, the junior winger slotted a dart inside the left post to give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage.

After numerous thwarted chances, the Pilgrims finally broke through with 3:21 left in the game as Gunnar Sibley tacked on a power play goal to prevent the shutout. NEC pulled its netminder in favor of a sixth skater, but the Spartans kept the visitors at bay to secure the 2-1 decision.

Castleton is back on home ice tomorrow, November 18 to battle its in-state rival, the ninth-ranked Norwich Cadets. Puck drop at Spartan Arena is at 4 p.m.