NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Powered by a four-goal first period, Vermont State University Castleton defeated UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference action on Saturday at Hetland Arena. The Spartans improve to 3-4-1 and 3-3-0 in conference play. The Corsairs slip to 3-5-0 and 1-2-0 in the LEC.
UMass Dartmouth opened the scoring at 2:04 of the first as junior center
Connor Little clipped in a pass from defender
Roscoe Eade for the 1-0 advantage. The lead was short lived as the Spartans recorded back-to-back goals on the power play and added two more for a 4-1 lead after the opening frame.
In the second period, the Spartans made it a 5-1 lead on a tally by rookie right wing David Coyle, but the Corsairs countered as sophomore defender
Hunter Scanlon ripped a shot that clinked in at the right post off a pass from senior captain and defender
Lane Ruffner.
UMD cut the deficit further on a fantastic individual play from senior left wing
Tyler Stewart. Collecting the puck off a Spartans stick in their own end, Stewart skated through the neutral zone into Spartans territory and banked a shot past VTSU Castleton goalie Josh Ward at 7:52 on the power play.
The Spartans added another tally, but Scanlon countered at 15:41, clipping a shot in at the right post to make it a 6-4 score. Despite the momentum, the Spartans answered with three straight goals to open the third period.
UMass Dartmouth added their fifth goal at 16:18 of the third, netting their second power play goal of the night as rookie center
Liam Fecteau tipped in a shot from Ruffner in front but the Spartans came away with the 9-5 win.
Ward posted the win for the Spartans, making 31 shots. On the other end, senior
Marshall McKallip started the game, recording 21 saves in the first period before giving way to classmate
Graham Burke, who shouldered the loss with 21 saves over the final two periods.
The Corsairs return to action on Tuesday, welcoming Division II Assumption to Hetland Arena for a 6pm start.
