Castleton scores five in second period to sink Southern Maine

The Castleton University men’s ice hockey team scored a season-high eight goals Friday evening as they captured their sixth straight win at Spartan Arena with an 8-1 victory over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in New England Hockey Conference action.

The Spartans led 2-1 after the first period, but exploded with five goals in the second to improve to 8-15-1 overall and 7-9-1 in the conference.

Fourteen different players registered at least one point in the game, with six players having two or more.

Freshman Fabio Kläy led the attack with his first career hat trick, while junior Bart Moran chipped in one score and one assist. Senior Tyler Gaudry, sophomore Ryan O’Toole and senior Will Laking added two points apiece, while sophomore Ryan Mulder tallied eight saves and recorded his first two career assists to pick up his seventh win of the year.

Sophomore Brett Norman scored the lone goal for the Huskies as they dropped to 7-16-1 and 4-13-0 in the NEHC on the year. Sophomore goalies Kyle Shapiro and Matt Michals combined to produce 32 saves in the losing effort.

The opening seven minutes of the game were a defensive nightmare that featured three goals as the hosts grabbed an early, 2-1 lead. Rookie Dan Fitzgerald began the scoring at the 2:42 mark with a shot into the top of the net to put the hosts in front, 1-0.

The Huskies found an answer just over four minutes later when Norman netted his third score of the year. The sophomore forward skated up the right wing before cutting to his forehand and ripping a shot glove side to tie the game at 1-1.

Castleton countered less than a minute after USM’s goal with one of its own to reclaim the lead, 2-1. On the power play, sophomore Jimmy Burns slipped a pass in the crease to Moran, who turned and put a shot on-target that Shapiro knocked aside. The junior forward, however, was there to poke home is own rebound and give the club a one-goal lead.

Despite turning in a productive first frame, the Spartan attack really came alive in the second with five goals, including a pair of power-play scores, to grab a 7-1 lead.

Senior Ben Bauer got in on the scoring early in the second with his first goal of the season. The senior defenseman received the puck at the point and rifled a slap shot through traffic that beat Shapiro to double the hosts’ advantage.

O’Toole tacked on a fourth score for Castleton off a feed from Moran halfway through the second before Kläy backhanded a shot past Shapiro to put Castleton in front, 5-1, with 7:49 remaining in the second frame.

The freshman forward was at it again just over two minutes later when he finished a one-on-one opportunity underneath the goalies pads for his second goal of the day before senior Charles Bando added one of his own to cap off the five-goal period and put the Spartans in front by six.

Kläy was able to complete the hat trick with his team-leading 12th score of the season in the waning minutes of the game to bring the contest to its final score of 8-1.

Southern Maine closes the regular season on Saturday at Skidmore College. Castleton is back on the ice on Saturday, when they take on the University of New England at Spartan Arena.

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