Castleton Breaks Through in Third to Defeat Men's Ice Hockey

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – The Framingham State Rams fell to VTSU Castleton 5-3 on Wednesday night at Loring Arena, despite a balanced scoring effort that saw three different Rams find the back of the net.


THE BASICS:
Score: Framingham State 3, VTSU Castleton 5
Location: Loring Arena, Framingham, Massachusetts
Records: Framingham State (3-9-0), VTSU Castleton (7-5-1)


HOW IT HAPPENED:
* First Period: The Spartans struck first just 34 seconds into the game when Emmett McHardy scored his seventh goal of the season. The Rams answered back at the 7:59 mark with a shorthanded goal by Aidan Elbrecht, but Castleton regained the lead on Jackson Edwards' even-strength tally at 16:06 to take a 2-1 advantage into the first intermission.
* Second Period: Jeremy Zecher evened the score at 2-2 with an even-strength goal at 3:54, assisted by Cullen Lacey. However, McHardy notched his second goal of the night on the power play at 14:13 to give the Spartans a 3-2 lead heading into the final period.
* Third Period: Nathan Gines pulled the Rams within one at 9:47 with assists from Lacey and Cameron Craig, but Luke Chakrabarti scored the game-winner for Castleton at 16:46 before adding an empty-net goal with 29 seconds remaining to seal the victory.


INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
* Jeremy Zecher: Recorded a goal and fired three shots on goal while posting a plus-2 rating for the Rams.
* Cullen Lacey: Tallied two assists and contributed two shots in a strong playmaking performance.
* Nathan Gines: Found the net back of the cage and added three shots while posting a plus-1 rating.
* Aidan Elbrecht: Scored his first goal of the season shorthanded and finished with three shots on goal.
* Team Stats: Framingham State was outshot 56-30 and went 0-for-1 on the power play while Castleton converted 1-of-5 power play opportunities. Goaltender Isak Saldjoughi made 51 saves in the losing effort.

UP NEXT:

The Rams host Franklin Pierce in non-conference action Saturday at 8:50pm