December 7, 2007

Castleton falls on the road, 4-3 to Cortland State

Cortland, NY-The Castleton State College men's ice hockey team fell in non-conference action to Crotland State 4-3. Junior Justin Kocent scored his first goal of the season late in the third period to break a 3-3 tie as the Red Dragons improved to 5-8-1 with the win, while the Spartans fell to 1-5-1.

Junior Brandon Heck led the Spartans with a goal and an assist, and sophomores Jeff Alexander and Evan Romeo each tallied a goal. Senior Travis Martell, junior Jared Lavender, sophomore Eric Curtis and freshman Jonathan Lafrance recorded one assist apiece. Junior goalie Jay Seals registered 19 saves.

Freshman Jarrett Gold contributed a goal and two assists for the Red Dragons, seniors Zach Dehm and Barry McLaughlin scored one goal apiece and sophomore Frank Rizzo recorded two assists. Junior Nick Catanzaro and sophomore Gerard Heinz each had an assist. Senior Jon Bova started in goal and made nine saves in 30 minutes, 47 seconds, before giving way to junior Mike Mistretta, who stopped 11 shots in 29:13.

The Spartans grabbed a 2-0 first-period lead on Heck’s power-play goal at 6:34 and Romeo’s one-timer in front at 12:45. Cortland tied the game up at 2-2 on Gold’s unassisted score at 4:55 of the second after a Castleton St. turnover and Dehm’s power-play goal at 11:49. The Spartans regained the lead at 16:44 of the period when Alexander sent a backhander off a Cortland skate, off the crossbar and behind Mistretta with the man advantage.

The Red Dragons answered with the only two goals of the third period. McLaughlin stuffed home the puck on the left side of the crease at 2:27 on the power play to tie the game. Kocent then netted the game-winner on a rebound at 17:29. The Spartans pulled Seals over the final 1:05 and pressured the Red Dragons but couldn’t beat Mistretta for the game-tying score.

The Spartans are back in action on December 8 when they take on Genseo State at 3:00 pm. [Box Score]

###Spartans###