(With contributions from Castleton State Sports Information)

Men's College Ice Hockey

Castleton State Downs Southern Maine 3-1

            RUTLAND, Vt. – Junior Kyle Pichler (Anchorage, Alaska) and senior Josh Harris (Torrance, Calif.) each had a goal and an assist to help the Castleton State College Spartans defeat the University of Southern Maine Huskies, 3-1, Saturday afternoon in an ECAC Men's East game at Spartan Arena.

            The Spartans improved to 11-5-2 overall and 6-4-1 in the conference with the win, and stretch their unbeaten streak to six games going 5-0-1 in those contests.  The Huskies dropped their fourth straight game and slipped to 6-11-0 overall and 3-8-0 in conference play.

            Castleton put out an impressive defensive effort, limiting Southern Maine to just 15 shots on goal while pouring in 30 shots in USM rookie goaltender Josh Hillegas (Middleton, Wis.).

            The Spartans jumped out to an early lead when Pichler punched home a loose puck in front of the net.  Junior Ryan Delorme (Kanata, Ontario) ripped a laser from the point, and Pichler was there to collect the rebound and place it in the net, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead just 1:54 into the match.

            In the waning seconds of the first period, Harris cashed in on his hot hand.  Pichler intercepted an errant Huskies pass and threaded the needle to Harris, who wristed a shot home to extend the Castleton lead to 2-0.  For Harris, it was his fifth goal in the last two games.

            The Huskies responded with an early goal in the second period.  Sophomore Stephen Gallo (Barnstead, N.H.) took the puck into the Castleton zone and ripped a dart that junior goalie Erick Cinotti (Mahwah, N.J.) couldn't quite keep out of the net. The tally pulled the Huskies back to within one.

            With 12:53 to go in the third, Castleton added an insurance goal.  As Southern Maine recovered from killing off a power play, Harris found sophomore Brian Greene (Falmouth, Maine) creeping in from the right point.  Greene one-timed the puck over Hillegas and into the top corner of the net to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead.

            In the final minutes, the game became extremely physical as the Huskies kept grinding away, but the Spartans held on to earn the 3-1 victory. 

            Cinotti earned his ninth win of the season, finishing with 14 saves.  Hillegas made 27 saves in the net for the Huskies.

            Southern Maine will play its final non-conference game of the regular season Tuesday night (7:00 p.m.) when it travels to Bowdoin College.  Castleton returns to the ice on Friday when it travels to Henniker, N.H., to take on New England College.