ATTLEBORO, MASS. – The Castleton men's hockey team looked unstoppable once again in their matchup against Johnson & Wales Friday night, tallying a season-high seven goals to claim a dominant 7-3 win  and a spot in the NEHC Playoffs.
 
The Spartans (8-16-0, 6-11-0 NEHC) outshot JWU (2-21-1, 1-16-0 NEHC) 40-19 in the contest, won 38-69 faceoffs — including an impressive 18-6 record by Zach Trempner — and got scores from seven different players in one of Castleton's most complete offensive performances of the season. Between the pipes, Brandon Collett saved 16 of the 19 shots he faced to earn his fifth win of the season and 10^th of his career.
 
Friday's game kicked off as a back-and-forth affair, with each sides getting their fair share of looks on net before it was Zack Whittaker scoring his third of the season to lead all defensemen. Taking advantage of their first powerplay opportunity of the night, the freshman whipped the puck around the boards to Andrew Stefura, who passed it out to Bryce Irwin. The sophomore then sent a hard pass back across the ice to a waiting Whittaker, who rifled a shot into the back of the net from the right circle to open up the scoring.
 
Both Stefura and Irwin rank in the top-10 in the conference in points at 21 and 22 respectively, with Irwin's 16 assists placing him tied for third in the NEHC.
 
With Johnson & Wales controlling the puck in their own end with a minute to go, it appeared as though Castleton would enter the break with a one-goal lead, but a turnover forced by Dylan Roebuck set the freshman up with a one-on-one in front of net. After having his first shot denied, Roebuck would take advantage of his second opportunity to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
 
Castleton carried their momentum from the end of the first into the second, taking just 56 seconds to extend their lead once again via Irwin's sixth of the year. Doing well to keep the puck in the Wildcats' zone, Trempner sent it toward Stefura who was waiting behind the net. The sophomore held the puck for a moment before finding Irwin in front of net who sent a high shot in to make it 3-0.
 
Not willing to take their foot off the gas, the Spartans scored a pair of goals at the 2:12 and 7:53 marks by Stone Stelzl and Romeo Torain — his second goal in as many games — to give themselves a 5-0 lead entering the final period.
 
Johnson and Wales scored a quick goal to cut Castleton's lead back to four, but there for the response was Stefura, scoring his first of the night to go along with his two assists to give the Spartans back their five-goal lead. This time it was Irwin skating the puck down center ice before laying it off to Stefura who scored his 13^th of the year, tying him with Glenn Wiswell's mark back in 2019-20 for the most goals by a Spartan in a single season in nearly a decade.
 
The Wildcats tacked on two more goals in short order to make it a 6-3 game and warrant them pulling their goalie, which allowed for Jason Atkinson to add himself to the scoring column with an empty-netter, securing the 7-3 win and a spot in the upcoming playoffs.

Castleton concludes their regular season tomorrow, February 11 with a game against UMass Boston. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m.