Seahawks fall to Castleton

Rutland, Vt. - With snow piled high and frigid temperatures outside Spartan Arena, the Spartans played like they were on fire, lighting the lamp seven times and downing Salve Regina 7-2 on Friday night in Rutland.

Will Laking and Derek Gingera each notched a pair of goals to lead the Castleton offense while Thomas Shelley made 24 saves to earn the win for the Spartans. Seniors Ben Roberts and Reid Lesswing each finished with a pair of assists as the squad rolled to its third consecutive non-conference victory.

Castleton started its offensive assault early, with a goal from Laking just 2:00 into the game. The sophomore trailed the Spartans' initial build-up and buried a pass from Ryan Frost to put the home team up 1-0. Colin Murray followed suit with a goal just 1:56 later to give Castleton a 2-0 lead.

With 8:16 left in the first, Eric Mack notched his first goal of the year to put Castleton up 3-0, ending Seahawks starter David Chiokadze's (Philadelphia, Pa.) night. Chiokadze finished with six saves and three goals allowed in just under 12 minutes in net, and took the loss for the visitors. Jake Williams (Montreal, Canada) entered as the relief goalie for Salve Regina and kept the Spartans scoreless for the remainder of the period.

In the second, Salve Regina got on the board with a power play from Michael Naso (Londonberry, N.H.) to cut the lead to 3-1. The Spartans responded with a goal just 36 seconds later, when Laking notched his second of the contest to reestablish Castleton's three-goal lead. Gingera followed with his first tally to put the Spartans ahead 5-1.

Salve Regina capitalized on a 5-on-3 opportunity midway through the period when Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.) notched an unassisted goal. The sophomore skated the puck into the offensive zone, beat a Castleton defender and backhanded the puck top-shelf to make the score 5-2. Before the period ended, Castleton answered again. Derek Gingera dangled his way to the front of the net and beat Williams to put Castleton ahead 6-2 entering the second intermission.

In the third, neither team took a penalty as the Spartans held onto their four-goal advantage. It wasn't until the middle of the period that Castleton added to their total. Bart Moran notched his seventh goal of the season to put the home team up 7-2, which held as the final.

Castleton matched their best offensive output on the year, putting up seven goals for the second consecutive game. Their two-game output of 14 goals is the highest consecutive-game goal total in program history.

Salve Regina returns to the ice when the Seahawks travel to Skidmore this afternoon to face the Thoroughbreds at 4 p.m.