Spartans shutout Seahawks

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. – Sophomore goaltender Mark Hochman (Worcester, Mass.) stopped all 30 of Salve Regina's shots as Castleton State defeated Salve Regina 3-0 on Saturday night.

Hochman made spectacular saves when he had to, but got a lot of help from his defense. The Spartan skaters were not afraid to sacrifice their bodies to get down and block shots from ever reaching the net.

Castleton was outshot in the game 30-21 but many of those shots for Salve Regina were desperation heaves at the net as the Seahawks were bothered all game by the Spartan defenders as they tried to carry the puck and set up the offense.

Defense dominated the first period and the game remained scoreless until midway through the second. A pass missed three Spartan players in the neutral but took a favorable bounce of the glass and careened right in stride to Patrick Thorton (Orillia, Ontario) who executed a 2-1 perfectly, hitting Kurt Johnson who snapped a onetimer past Salve Regina netminder David Chiokadze (Langhorne, Pa.) giving the Spartans the lead.

The Seahawks finished the second with a flurry of shots, outshooting the Spartans 14-4 in the frame, but were still unable to slip one past Hochman.

The Spartans struck early in the third to extend the lead when Nick Kovalchick (Brownstown, Mich.) stole the puck at the blue line and wristed a shot past the glove of Chiokadze giving Castleton a 2-0 advantage.

The Seahawks would have two chances on the power play to get on the board in the third period but could not convert, going 0-4 in total for the game with the man advantage. 

In desperation the Seahawks pulled the goalie with three minutes left. The Seahawks had a flurry of shots, including one off the post, but Charles Bando (Wakefield, Mass.) eventually was able to break away and score the empty-net goal to seal the game for Castleton.

With the win the Spartans improve to 5-9-0 on the season, while the Seahawks fall to 5-5-2 overall.

Castleton returns to action next Saturday, January 10, playing host to Utica at 7 p.m.

The Seahawks next play on January 10 as well when the team hosts Daniel Webster at the Portsmouth Abbey at 7:30 p.m.