Spartans score four-times in first to earn the conference win

Box Score

CASTLETON, Vt. - A four-goal first period would prove the difference as the third ranked Spartans of Castleton State College (6-0-0, 6-0-0 ECAC East) defeated men's hockey (1-4-0, 0-4-0 ECAC East) by the final score of 6-3 Saturday afternoon at Spartan Arena in an ECAC East conference match-up.

Finding the back of the net twice for the Beacons was senior Jim Ennis (Roslindale, Mass.), while Mike DeGrazia (Novi, Mich.) netted his first goal of the season in the opening minute of the third period.  For Castleton, they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair goals, then closed out the final eight minutes of play with two more to take a 4-1 lead going into the first intermission.

Ennis would score the lone goal in the second for UMass Boston to make it 4-2 in favor of the Spartans.  In the third, the Beacons continued to chip away at Castleton's lead following DeGrazia's goal just 51 seconds into the period.  However, two goals from Lindsey Gullet and Dan Bell would secure the victory for the Spartans, who earlier this week jumped three spots on the USCHO.com Division III Coaches Poll.

For Ennis his two goals outing marked the first multi-score game since 2009, when he netted a pair of goals against Stonehill College.  Picking-up assists on those back-to-back goals was Anthony Fitti (Havertown, Pa.), Andrew Burke (Southampton, Pa.), Corey Chakeen (Quincy, Mass.), and Rob Florentino (West Roxbury, Mass.).  Assisting DeGrazia's goal in the third was Chris Preziosi (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) and Travis Daniel (North Brunswick, N.J.).

Between the pipes freshman Alex Scola (Exeter, N.H.) tallied 17 saves, while his Spartan counterpart Erick Cinottie combined for 34 saves to improve to 5-0 on the year.

The lone power-play goal of the game belonged to UMass Boston as they went 1-for-5 on the night.  Castleton State was 0-for-3 overall on man-up opportunities. 

UMass Boston dominated their conference opponent in the shots category, 37-23.  The only time that the Spartans led the game in shots was in the first when they outshot the Beacons 13-9.  After that UMass totaled 14 shots in the final two periods, while their defense held the Spartans to just a combined 10 shots in the final 40 minutes of play respectively.

Men's hockey will next travel to Framingham State University on Tuesday for a 7:20 p.m. non-conference game.