Rutland, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's hockey team fell short to No. 1 Hobart College 3-1 Friday evening.
 
VTSU Castleton hosted top-ranked Hobart for their first New England Hockey Conference contest of the season.
 
The two sides battled in the first period but neither side could get past the stellar goaltender play. Josh Ward made 33 saves to help keep the Spartans within reach, while Damon Beaver stopped 26 shots for the Statesmen.
 
Ignat Belov tallied a pair of goals in the second to put the Statesmen up 2-0 after two periods of play. Hobart extended their lead as Matthew Iasenza crashed the net and found a rebounding puck to make it 3-0 game halfway through the third.
 
Castleton in need of an answer, found their goal with Aiden Robson and Andrew Stefura setting up shots for Jackson Edwards to swoop in and bury the puck into the back of the net for his first of the season and bring the score to 3-1.
 
Despite outshooting the Statesmen in the third, Castleton's comeback would fall short as Hobart held on to pick up their first conference win of the season.
 
The two sides play again tomorrow November 9 at 4 p.m. at Spartan Arena.