RUTLAND, Vt. - The Castleton State College men's
ice hockey team snapped a five-game losing streak Wednesday evening
with 4-2 non-conference win over Plymouth State University.
Eric Curtis scored a pair of goals to key the Spartans to the
victory.
The Spartans broke through first when Kirk Bolduc scored his second
goal of the season with 1:02 remaining in the first period off an
assist by senior Ryan Bartlett. Castleton made it 2-0 just 4:14
into the second frame as Bolduc assisted on freshman Stuart
Stefan's third collegiate goal.
The Panthers would cut the lead in half seven minutes later when
freshman Sean Buckley (Sagamore, Mass.) sent home
his first collegiate goal off a rebound directly in front of the
net. Classmates Jason Butler (Farmington, Conn.)
and David Rose (Haddon Township, N.J.) provided
the assists on the power-play goal.
Curtis stretched the Spartan lead back to two when he sent home his
first goal of the night, a rebound from the right side, on the
power-play. Steve Culbertson and Craig Richardson assisted on the
goal, which would prove to be the game-winner.
Just 1:34 into the third period the Panthers would cut the lead to
one when senior Topo LaCroix (Moretown, Vt.)
scored his third goal of the season. Senior Chris
Cadieux (Nashua, N.H.) played the puck into Spartan
territory, where LaCroix skated it down and scored from an
impossible angle off of goalie Jeff Swanson.
Caslteton's final goal was a beauty scored by Curtis at 8:53 on the
power-play. Jeff Alexander played the puck ahead to a full-speed
Curtis who stopped on a dime, allowing a Panther defender to pass
before beating Plymouth State sophomore goalie Erik
Shields (Lebanon, Maine) above the glove-side shoulder.
Swanson ended the night with 31 saves for Castleton, while Shields
stopped 24 for the Panthers, who are now 2-3-2 overall.
Plymouth State will wrap up the semester this Saturday against
Southern Maine in a non-conference affair at Waterville Valley
(6:00 p.m.) Castleton State, 2-6-1, will return from the
semester break with a Jan. 5 road contest at Potsdam State (7:00
p.m.)
(Courtesy of Castleton State Sports Information)
-- 30 --
