February 22, 2008

Castleton defeats Wesleyan 6-0, earns first-ever home playoff game

Rutland, VT-Castleton captain Brandon Heck picked up a hat trick as Castleton downed Wesleyan 6-0 to clinch at least the #4 seed heading into the ECAC East tournament. The Spartans are unbeaten in their last nine contests, outscoring their opponents 40-16 over that span.

With the win Castleton improves to 12-10-2 overall and 10-6-2 in ECAC East and clinches at least the fourth spot in the upcoming tournament.

The Spartans jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead after the first period on 14 shots. Marlin Froese tallied what would stand up as the game winner 9:27 into the contest on assists from Ross Carmichael. Just over three minutes later, Froese returned the favor as Carmichael tallied his second goal of the season. Tim Archibald did all he could to keep Wesleyan in the game making several fantastic saves en route to 12 in the period. Archibald finished with 39 on the night, but the Cardinals could not muster any offense against the Spartan defense.

Eric Curtis scored the third goal of the game just under five minutes into the second period assisted by Ryan Bartlett and Matt Link. Heck would then tally all three of his goals to round out the scoring as Castleton cruised to the victory.

Jeff Swanson stopped 25 shots in the shut-out as Wesleyan falls to 8-11-3 overall and 6-9-3 in NESCAC action. Both teams will return to the ice Saturday afternoon as Castleton plays host to Trinity and Welseyan travels to Skidmore for 4:00 pm face-offs. [Box Score]

###Spartans###