GENEVA, N.Y. – The Castleton men's hockey team led after two periods, but fell 7-3 to second-ranked, top-seeded Hobart after a five-goal final stanza.

Zach Papapetros enjoyed his second multi-point game of the season, netting the day's opening score with an assist. Jackson Kobelka and Stone Stelzl also found paydirt as six different Spartans were tabbed with helpers. In goal, Brandon Collett collected a career-high 61 saves for a .910 percentage.

The Spartans (9-17-0) grabbed the lead thanks to Papapetros' power play goal in the eighth minute, scoring the first goal against Hobart (24-2-0) for the second time this season.

The advantage carried into the second frame until the Statesmen knotted proceedings at one-all off a Tanner Hartman strike, then jumped ahead with a Luke Aquaro goal. With less than three minutes left in the period, Kobelka tossed in the equalizer. Just 77 seconds later, Castleton regained the lead as Stelzl entered the scoresheet to make it 3-2.

On the verge of disaster, Hobart began to flood its attacking zone and tied the game 3-3 in the fourth minute. In the ensuing minutes, the Statesmen built a two-score advantage that got extended to four in the second half of the period. The Spartans were limited to four shots on net in the third stanza as Hobart took a 7-3 win to advance.

Castleton finished its season with a 9-17-0 record, making strides to post its highest win total since the 2016-17 campaign.