RUTLAND, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's ice hockey team secured its regular-season sweep of UMass Dartmouth on Friday evening, taking down the Corsairs, 4-2.

The Basics
• Final Score: Castleton 4, UMass Dartmouth 2
• Location: Spartan Arena – Rutland, Vt.
• Records: Castleton 11-7-1 (7-5-0 LEC) | UMass Dartmouth 10-8-0 (5-6-0 LEC)

How It Happened
Castleton wasted no time asserting itself, as Emmett McHardy opened the scoring just 40 seconds in off feeds from Luke Chakrabarti and David Coyle. The first line struck again before its shift came to an end, with the trio connecting on an identical play as McHardy scored his second goal just 123 seconds into the contest to make it 2-0.

UMass Dartmouth responded in the sixth minute despite being down two and on the penalty kill, recording its first shorthanded goal of the season to pull within one.

The Corsairs found the equalizer at 9:38, sending the game into the first intermission tied 2-2.

Both squads pushed to gain an edge in the second period, but neither could break through, leaving the score deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the third frame. Josh Ward played a key role in keeping the Spartans even, turning aside all 16 shots he faced in the middle stanza.

It appeared the second contest of the day at Spartan Arena would head to overtime, but Castleton broke the stalemate with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Marcus Bellomo netted the game-winner unassisted after stripping the puck from a Corsair defender.

The visitors pulled their goalie at 18:27 for an extra attacker. While Castleton spent much of the remaining time defending, it generated several quality looks at the empty net. Coyle capitalized at 19:38, scoring an unassisted empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 victory.

By the Numbers
• Rookie David Coyle continued to impress, recording three points on two assists and the insurance goal.
• Classmates McHardy (2g) and Chakrabarti (2a) connected on the game's first two goals.
• McHardy, Trevor Castino, and Holdin Getzlaf each tallied three blocked shots.
• Castleton's offense forced the UMass Dartmouth netminder to make 44 saves.
• Ward stopped 24 shots to earn his sixth win of the season.

Up Next
The Spartans return to Spartan Arena tomorrow, January 31, to host the Beacons of UMass Boston in a 4 p.m. Little East Conference matchup.