RUTLAND, Vt. – Stuffed animals poured onto the ice at Spartan Arena as Vermont State University Castleton men's hockey took down Saint Michael's, 3-2, in overtime. Tyler Burke scored twice, and Luke Chakrabarti sealed the win with the OT game-winner.

The Basics
• Final Score: VTSU Castleton 3, Saint Michael's 2 (OT)
• Location: Spartan Arena – Rutland, Vt.
• Records: Castleton 5-5-1 | Saint Michael's 3-4-3

How It Happened
Despite a combined 27 shots in the opening frame, the teams remained locked in a 0-0 tie through one period. Castleton's Charles Watson turned away 13 attempts, while St. Mike's netminder Cole Manahan stopped 17.

The visitors struck first at 4:20 of the second—just eight seconds after a Spartan penalty expired—to take a 1-0 lead. Castleton appeared to answer six minutes later when Tyler Burke buried a loose puck on a jam-packed goal line, sending teddy bears flying. After the lengthy cleanup, however, the officials waved off the rookie's tally, ruling it had been kicked in. The Purple Knights capitalized on the momentum swing, doubling their lead to 2-0 at 6:32.

Castleton came out firing in the third, sending five shots on goal in less than two minutes. The period saw fast-paced, back-and-forth action with both squads trading chances.

Electing to use the delayed penalty to their advantage, the Spartans broke through at 7:51 as Burke cleaned up a Marcus Bellomo shot to make it 2-1. Fellow rookie Joey Ala picked up the secondary assist.

With five minutes left in regulation, Burke struck again, beating Manahan to knot the game at 2-2. The all-rookie tally was assisted by Bellomo and Cole Bowditch. Castleton pressed hard for the regulation winner, firing seven more shots, but the score remained tied.

The Spartans won the opening faceoff of overtime and generated a quick look before play settled. It appeared Castleton would head to a 4-on-3 power play after Saint Michael's was whistled for tripping, but Bellomo was sent off for embellishment on the same sequence, keeping the teams at even strength.

Emmett McHardy won the ensuing draw and pushed the puck into the attacking zone. After McHardy became tied up along the boards, Cam Reid collected the puck behind the net and fed a waiting Chakrabarti, who buried the overtime winner with 1:30 left on the clock.

By the Numbers
• Classmates Burke and Bellomo led the offense with two points each—Burke with two goals and Bellomo with two assists.
• Chakrabarti's game-winner marked his second overtime goal of the season and the third of his career.
• Watson backstopped the victory with 31 saves for his second win of the year.
• Castleton dominated the shot column, unleashing 65 shots on goal compared to 33 by the Purple Knights. The Spartans also controlled the faceoff circle, winning 66 of 85 draws, highlighted by Josef Vyvial's 18-for-20 performance.

Up Next
The Spartans will rest this weekend before hitting the road on Wednesday, December 10, traveling to Skidmore College for a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup.