DANBURY, Conn. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's ice hockey team defeated Western Connecticut, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon to return to the win column following Friday's overtime loss.

The Basics
• Final Score: Castleton 5, WestConn 3
• Location: Stephen Feldman Arena – Danbury, Conn.
• Records: Castleton 13-10-1 (9-8-0 LEC) | WestConn 2-21-0 (1-15-0 LEC)

How It Happened
Castleton wasted no time asserting itself, as Cole Bowditch fired a shot that rang off the post and back to fellow rookie Jack Linton, who buried the rebound for his first collegiate goal at 4:15. Logan Dapprich also earned an assist on the opening tally to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

The Spartans doubled their advantage at the 13-minute mark when Luke Chakrabarti found the back of the net with help from linemate David Coyle. The hosting Wolves answered late in the opening stanza, scoring as time expired to cut the deficit to 2-1 after 20 minutes.

Momentum tightened midway through the second period as WestConn scored a four-on-four goal to knot the contest at 2-2 with half the game remaining.

Castleton responded emphatically in the final minutes of the second stanza, scoring twice at 14:02 and 16:28 to take a 4-2 lead into the third period. The first goal came on the power play from Marcus Bellomo, assisted by Jackson Edwards.

Anthony Persi was whistled for kneeing at 15:44, but the penalty failed to slow Castleton, as Emmett McHardy struck with a shorthanded, unassisted goal just over two minutes later.

The Wolves pulled within one with five minutes remaining, making it 4-3, before opting for the extra attacker at 18:07. Despite the 6-on-5 disadvantage, Dapprich sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:21 to secure the 5-3 win.

By the Numbers
• Despite playing on the blue line, Dapprich led the Spartans offensively with two points on a goal and an assist.
• With his second-period goal, Chakrabarti leads both the team and conference with 18 goals and paces the league in goals per game at 0.78.
• Charles Watson faced 26 shots in net, turning aside 23.

Up Next
The Spartans return home on Friday, February 20, to close out the regular season in a 7 p.m. matchup against Norwich University, which is currently receiving votes in the national poll.