GORHAM, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey team twice rallied from a two-goal deficit to forge a 4-4, overtime time with third ranked Castleton State College in an ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Men's East game Friday night at the USM Ice Arena.

            The tie leaves the USM with a 4-11-4 overall mark and a 2-10-2 record in league play.  Castleton State had its 13-game winning streak stopped and is now 17-2-1 overall and 11-2-1 in the league.  Castleton remains in a tie with Norwich University for the top spot in the league as Norwich also played to a 4-4 tie at home against Middlebury College.

            Trailing 4-2 entering the final period, USM pulled within one at 4:13 as senior defenseman Paul Conter (Woodbridge, Ontario) blasted a 40-foot shot past Castleton rookie goaltender Erick Cinotti (Mahwah, N.J.) for his seventh goal of the season.  Less than three minutes later, sophomore Matt MacDonald (Byfield, Mass.) got the equalizer scoring an unassisted goal.

            From that point, Cinotti and USM freshman Braely Torris (Eckville, Alberta) slammed the door shut.  Each made game-saving stops in overtime, Cinotti on junior Dan Rautenberg (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and Torris on sophomore Justin Alonzo (San Jose, Calif.).  Cinotti would record 18 saves for the game while Torris rung up 45 stops.

            The visiting Spartans, ranked third in the nation in this week's USCHO.com Division III poll, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening eight minutes.  Sophomore Chris Wieland (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), playing in his first game, scored at 5:24, and Alonzo made it 2-0 at 7:27 with his team-leading 14th marker of the campaign.

            The Huskies picked up a power-play goal from Rautenberg at 13:17 to pull within one, and tied the game midway through the second period on a goal by rookie Mike Greene (Arvada, Colo.).

            The tie lasted less than two minutes as senior Stuart Stefan (Delhi, Ontario) lit the lamp for a power-play goal.  Freshman Braden Kinnebrew (Anchorage, Alaska) netted his first collegiate goal at 18:33, while the Spartans were on another power play, to restore their two-goal edge.

            Southern Maine will play its final regular season home game on Saturday (4:00 p.m.) hosting Skidmore College.  Castleton State will travel to the University of New England on Saturday (4:00 p.m.).