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Men's Hockey: No. 3 Castleton Downs No. 7 Utica in Cardinal Classic 5-2

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Created on Saturday, 31 December 2011 03:20
Written by George Commo

Powerplay Helps Spartans Build 4-0 First Period Lead

Courtesy Castleton Sports Information

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Dan Bell (Victoria, B.C.) scored two goals and Dru Douglas (Whitby, Ont.) added two assists as number-three ranked Castleton defeated seventh-ranked utica 5-2 in the opening game of the Cardinal Classic hosted by Plattsburgh State.

 

Castleton raced out to a 4-0 lead after the first period, converting on three power-play goals to take a commanding lead into the first intermission. Nick Lazorko (Rockwall, Texas) put the Spartans on the board just 39 seconds into the contest, tallying his 13th goal of the season off assists from Tyler Atkins (Brockville, Ont.) and Josh Harris (Torrance, Calif.). The power-play score came just six seconds into the extra man advantage.

 

The Spartans took advantage of a five-minute extra-man opportunity four minutes into the game converting twice on the extended power play to take a 3-0 lead by the seven-minute mark. Bell converted his eighth marker of the season off a Douglas assist and Colin Murray (Oshawa, Ont.) provided what proved to be the game-winner three minutes later, once again assisted by Douglas and Kevin Van Dyk (Grand Valley, Ont.).

 

Bell scored his second of the night at 13:14 of the first period, burying a rebound off of a Chris Wieland (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) shot. Reid Lesswing (Amherst, N.Y.) also picked up an assist on the goal.


After a strong opening period from the Spartans, Utica was able to grab momentum in the second and maintain control through the period. The Pioneers held a 21-4 advantage in shots in the middle period but could not cash in any of their opportunities as Spartan goalie Erick Cinotti (Mahwah, N.J.) turned away all 21 shots he faced.

 

Utica’s Jordan Hobaica (Clinton, N.Y.) broke up the shutout at the 15:50 mark of the third period with his first of the year from Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ont.) and George Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y.). After pulling goaltender Evan Smith (Penticton, B.C.), the Pioneers netted an extra-attacker goal from Evan Chlanda (Islip, N.Y.) with 1:56 left to cut the Castleton lead to 4-2.

 

The Spartans answered back at 19:09 with an empty-net goal by Justin Alonzo (San Jose, Calif.) to secure their spot in the Cardinal Classic championship game tomorrow at 4 p.m. They will meet host Plattsburgh. The Cardinals shutout Babson in the second game 5-0.

 

Utica held a 44-24 edge in shots on goal. The Spartans went 3-for-4 in their power-play opportunities while the Pioneers were 0-for-6.


Cinotti was stellar in the Castleton net making 42 stops to improve to 6-1-0. Nick Therrien (Rochester, N.H.) got the start for Utica and suffered the loss after allowing four goals in the first 13:14. Smith recorded 12 saves in the final 45:50.

 

Castleton improves to 11-1 overall, while Utica falls to 8-4.