RUTLAND, Vt. -- The Castleton women's hockey team showed out for the 14th edition of Pink the Rink, delivering a 4-1 thumping to Johnson & Wales Friday night.

Scoring poured in from four different Spartan (13-10-1, 10-7-0 NEHC) sticks as Miranda Wheeler got Castleton rolling with her second career goal. Third-period strikes by Samantha Lawler, Meg Aiken, and Darby Palisi padded the lead and gave Castleton an insurmountable lead. Brooke Greenwood helped on the Spartans' first two scores as Lawler and Palisi earned points by both scoring and distribution. Emily Harris, Kaitlin Bardellini, and Megan Ward were also tabbed with helpers in a seven-assist night for the home team. Kirsten DiCicco handled business between the pipes, saving 96.9 percent of shots with 16 of her 31 saves coming in the final stanza.

Wheeler's first goal of her senior campaign came in the fifth minute as Greenwood won an attacking-zone faceoff and gave the fellow Ontarian the feed for the lead. JWU (5-15-3, 5-10-3 NEHC) could not leverage a power play and multiple faceoff wins, firing a quartet of man-advantage shots on goal that DiCicco denied.

A fiery second period began with Bardellini being thrown into the boards less than three minutes in as minor penalties for holding and roughing were issued. Castleton was whistled for two tough penalties soon after, but the superb power play setup held the Wildcats to one shot on goal through four man-up minutes.

Each side traded opportunities to start the final 20 minutes, but a fourth-minute hooking call would haunt JWU. The senior line trio of Lawler, Palisi, and Greenwood combined for a lead-extending tally. A minute later, the Wildcats got back on power play but the Spartans were unfazed. Aiken, who logged a hat trick in the teams' last meeting, tossed in a short-handed goal just 45 seconds into the 4-on-5. JWU got a flurry of offense but a host of pink jerseys suppressed the charge. Momentum swung back into the Castleton end as Ward fired a long-range dart that was rebounded, tapped by Lawler to Palisi for the fourth unanswered goal. Brooke Dineen sent in a rebound to prevent the shutout, but the Wildcats could not overcome the deficit.

The Spartans honor its seven seniors tomorrow, February 11 while doing battle with UMass Boston at 3 p.m. After Norwich defeated William Smith Friday, Castleton can secure a home game in the first round of the New England Hockey Conference playoffs with a victory over the Beacons.