RUTLAND, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team threatened late but ran out of time in a 3-2 loss at Castleton University in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play at Spartan Arena on Saturday. The Purple Knights are 6-15 overall and 3-12 in the league, while the Spartans, now winners in five of their last seven games, are 6-14-1 and 5-8-1. Saint Michael's and Castleton split this season's series, as the Purple Knights previously won on Nov. 20.

Seniors Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) and Nick Potter (Stoneham, Mass./The Brooks School) both scored for Saint Michael's. First-year Sam D'Antuono (Hingham, Mass./Dexter School) had two assists and won 13 faceoffs, while sophomore Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) and first-year Colin Biebel (Roxborough Park, Colo./Walpole Express) both had one helper. First-year Chris Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Pomfret School) totaled 31 saves for his 11th 30-save performance of the season.

Castleton senior Will Laking had two goals and one assist, with junior Kevin Rosset also scoring. Senior Ben Bauer and juniors Bart Moran and Patrick Thornton each registered one assist. Sophomore Ryan Smith was 13-of-21 on faceoffs and classmate Ryan Mulder collected 34 saves for the win.

Castleton owned a 1-0 lead after both teams accounted for nine first-period shots. Spartan first-year Gustav Carlsson rang a shot off the post at 11:20 and Rosset followed up at 14:28 with a goal by redirecting Moran's shot. The hosts had another shot clang off the post, this time from sophomore Ryan O'Malley at 16:02. Saint Michael's fired three shots on net during the remainder of the period, including a potential Potter goal that was waved off by the officials just before time expired.

Potter later broke through, as his power-play goal at 11:44 of the second period brought the game to a 1-1 tie. Salzillo snapped a point shot that Potter redirected for the equalizer. During a Purple Knight power play less than two minutes later, D'Antuono had a pair of shots blocked by the Spartan defense before Biebel clanged a shot off the post.

Still knotted at 1-1 early through the third period, Laking broke the stalemate with a short-handed tally at 8:33. Laking stole the puck in his offensive zone and wristed a shot past Johnson. Laking struck again at 12:43 and stretched the lead to 3-1 as Thornton fed down to Laking, whose left circle shot sneaked inside the near post. After the Purple and Gold pulled Johnson with 3:30 remaining, the visitors held heavy offensive pressure, accounting for eight shots in 1:42. Altidor brought Saint Michael's to within one as he threw the puck on net from the right side and beat Mulder with 21 seconds to go. With one final push after the ensuing faceoff, the Purple Knight forwards rushed in and Altidor had a chance to equalize, but Mulder smothered the final opportunity.

Saint Michael's returns home next weekend to face a pair of nationally-ranked teams, starting with No. 8 University of Massachusetts at Boston on Friday at 7 p.m. on Rink 2 at Cairns Arena. UMass Boston's ranking is according to the latest U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll.