RUTLAND, Vt. -- The Castleton men's hockey team strongly contended with second-ranked Hobart, but the Spartans were bested 5-1 Saturday afternoon.

Romeo Torain connected on his second career goal in the closing minutes of the contest to prevent a shutout. Corralling possession near center ice, Brandon Picard gave the sophomore defenseman a feed as Torain's shot from the left faceoff circle snuck through for a power play goal. The Spartans (7-16-0, 5-11-0 NEHC) have scored with a man advantage for four consecutive games. Between the pipes, Brandon Collett turned away 40 of the Statesmen's (21-2-0, 13-2-0) 45 shots on net, chalking up his third-highest save mark of the season.

The Spartans were gifted with two power play opportunities, but Hobart extinguished both as netminder Graham Burke saved all three shots on goal with a man-disadvantage. Zach Papapetros and Hobart's Kahlil Fontana got tangled up in the 18th minute and were tagged with matching minor penalties. Just as Papapetros and Fontana exited the penalty box with seconds remaining in the period, Jonah Alexander pushed in the day's first goal to give Hobart the lead.

Collett began to put on a clinic in the second stanza, holding the Statesmen scoreless in the first 15 minutes with 17 denials. The Spartans enjoyed a three-minute power play, with 38 seconds of 5-on-3, but the Statesmen held sturdy and pushed the score to 2-0 right after regaining full strength. Hobart added another power play goal with one minute left in the period to extend the gap to three.

In the final period, Castleton began to gain a foothold in the faceoff circle but a suppressive Hobart defense kept the puck out of scoring range. Papapetros was a major catalyst in the Spartan defensive effort as the North Andover, Mass. native blocked three strokes in the early going. Timely reads and persistence in the offensive half allowed Hobart to score twice midway through the period, keeping proceedings one-sided at 5-0. But the Spartans continued to battle, fighting for an edge until power play chances emerged on back-to-back penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct and boarding. Balint Mesterhazy sent the puck across the ice to Picard but a Statesman intercepted it. Picard retook possession and handed Torain an assist on the Spartans' late tally, a power play goal against the nation's fifth-best penalty kill.

As the Spartans' senior day, Collett and Picard as well as captain Kyle Sargent and Jeremy Laplante were honored for their contributions to the program. The fan-favorite award, voted on by Spartan fans during the season, was awarded to Collett and junior forward Grady Birk.

The Spartans return to the ice on Friday, February 10th at Johnson & Wales for a 7 p.m. contest in Attleboro, Mass.