January 20, 2007

Castleton wins fifth straight, takes down #14 Amherst 6-4

Amherst, MA-Castleton won for the fifth straight time, taking them to their tenth victory of the season, this time defeating nationally ranked No. 14 Amherst College 6-4.

Castleton State first-year forward Steve Culbertson scored the opening goal of the game just two minutes into the game when he snuck a backhanded shot underneath Amherst senior goal tender Josh Fillman (Charlestown, MA).

Amherst tied the game at one goal apiece ten minutes later when junior forward Michael McIntosh (Soldotna, AK) grabbed the rebound and finished off a senior Brandon Zangel (Highlands Ranch, CO) slap shot.

Amherst took the lead at the 17:30 mark on a junior Kyle Schoppel (Cambridge, MA) banged home a senior captain Sean Ellis (Springfield, MA) effort. The goal was the seventh of the year for Schoppel. Amherst was unable to take a lead into the locker room when a Lord Jeff turnover led to Kirk Bolduc open-net finish.

With the score knotted at 2-2 at the start of the second period, Amherst found the net just one minute into the period when points leader Joel Covelli (Carlisle, ON) skated in alone on goal tender Jeff Swanson after Ellis drew two defenders at the blue line.

Castleton tied the game at three ten minutes later, when Brandon Heck punched home a rebound, with assists going to Joe Huchko and Travis Martell. Amherst responded :20 seconds later with an amazing goal from first-year Andrew Stevenson (Newton, MA). Stevenson grabbed the puck at the blue line and ripped a hard snap shot to far upper corner.

The Spartans tied the game for the fourth time of the game when Culbertson scored with just :27 seconds remaining in the third period. The third period opened with a 4-4 tie, and Castleton took the lead midway through the period on a Travis Martell slap shot. The power-play goal snuck by Fillman on his right side, for what was eventually the game-winner.

Caslteton added an empty-net goal late in the game to stretch the lead to 6-4, dropping the Lord Jeffs to 10-4-1 (7-3-1) on the season. Castleton returns home on Tuesday for a 7:00 contest versus Potsdam St. The Lord Jeffs return to action Friday for a conference match-up with Conn. College at 7 p.m. [Box Score]

###Spartans###