HENNIKER, N.H. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's hockey team's second-period comeback attempt was thwarted as New England College successfully defended home ice to knock off the Spartans, 5-2, Saturday afternoon.

Josef Vyvial chipped in two points on a goal and the primary assist on Stone Stelzl's third tally of the season. The Spartans (7-14-0, 4-10-0 NEHC) also had Dylan Roebuck and Chance Heaphy earn helpers. VTSU Castleton dominated the faceoff circle, winning 62.7 percent of draws as Avvi Tanasiyenko logged an impressive 11-for-14 performance on the dot.

Making his sixth start of the year, sophomore Josh Ward saved 29 shots fired by the Pilgrims (4-17-1, 2-12-0 NEHC). Cam Reid knocked down a team-high three scoring attempts while Chance Heaphy was credited with two blocks.

NEC's Shane Adler delivered a power-play goal in the game's second minute as Paul Waldhauser and Kam Hellman followed with opening-period strikes of their own.

After being out-shot 17-6 in the first stanza, the Spartans had a short man advantage and began to rally in the second frame. Three minutes in, Roebuck found Vyvial to cut the deficit to 3-1 and spur a momentum swing. Heaphy put a shot on net that Pilgrim goaltender Kai Tomita deflected away, but Stelzl capitalized on the surge with a score to make it a one-goal game.

Ike Taraszewski found paydirt with 3:10 to go in the second period to push the NEC lead back to two goals. The Spartans fought to close the gap with multiple high-percentage shots, but Tomita held strong and Jesper Tarkiainen's empty-netter in the waning moments sealed it for the hosts.

Castleton returns home on Friday, February 2 to face Southern Maine at 7 p.m. for the program's third annual Breaking the Ice on Mental Health game in partnership with Rutland Regional Medical Center.