Salem State Edges Castleton 4-3

SALEM, Mass. – Stephen Balcher (Townsend, Mass.) made 13 saves, which included many key stops in the final quarter as Salem State held on for a 4-3 Little East victory over Castleton on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Vikings improve to 3-4 and even their record at 1-1 in the Little East. The Spartans slip to 2-7 and 0-2 in conference.

Jason Sedell (Pine Brook, N.J.) accounted for the only goal of the first period, scoring on an assist from Kyle Lutinski (New Fairfield, Conn.) at the 10:06 mark. Sedell increased Castleton's lead to 2-0 with a second quarter goal. However, Tyler Morris (Billerica, Mass.) netted back-to-back goals to tie the game at 2-2 heading into halftime. The Vikings held a slight 12-11 advantage in shots as neither team was able to generate their offense consistently.

Lutinski put the Spartans back on top 3-2 early in the third, but Kyle Henry (Attleboro, Mass.) won the ensuing face off and raced in with the game-tying goal less than 10 seconds later. Jay Colletti (Billerica, Mass.) gave Salem State the lead with his fourth goal of the year with 4:05 remaining in the third.

The final quarter was tightly contested, which saw Salem State kill off two penalties while Balcher thwarted several Castleton attempts in the final minutes, preventing Castleton from scoring the game-tying goal.

Brandon Myron (Rensselear, N.Y.) made 11 saves in the loss for the Spartans, who went 0-3 on man up opportunities and finished with a 26-25 advantage in shots.