RUTLAND, Vt.—Junior Matt Lemire (Townsend, Mass.) scored with 34 seconds left in overtime to complete #9/10 UMass Boston men's hockey's (17-3-1, 12-2 ECAC East) 4-3 comeback victory over host Castleton State College (7-13-0, 5-8-0 ECAC East) Saturday afternoon at the Spartan Arena.

The Beacons trailed by a goal on three separate occasions in the contest, only to score two goals in the final eight minutes of game action.

With UMass Boston trailing 3-2 with less than three minutes to play, senior assistant captain Dan Cornell (Abington, Mass.) scored the first goal of his senior campaign to tie the game at 3-3.

That set the stage for Lemire, who continues to make headlines in his first semester for the Beacons. With his game-winning tally, Lemire has now recorded six goals and two assists, including two game-winning tallies, in 10 games as a Beacon.

Junior Connor McStravick (Philadelphia, Pa.) and freshman Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) also found the back of the net for the Beacons, who earned their fourth conference sweep of the season.

With the win, UMass Boston kept their conference title hopes alive, as UMass Boston sits four points behind #2 Norwich University with four games to play. 

In net, Billy Faust (Alta Loma, Calif.) stayed unbeaten by making 24 saves on 27 shots. Faust moved to 9-0-1 on the season in nine starts and 11 total appearances.

Castleton freshman netminder Ryan Mulder nearly keyed the Spartans second upset in as many days. Mulder who stopped 46 shots Friday night in a 3-1 upset over #7 Babson College, made 35 stops in the loss.

The Spartans defenders helped out their freshman goalie by blocking 26 shots. UMass Boston's defense totaled 14 blocked shots in the contest.

Brian Wadsworth, Nick Kovalchik and Will Laking each scored for Castleton State who continued their streak of avoiding ties. Through 19 games, the Spartans have played just two overtime games, with their first game resulting in a 4-3 overtime win at Plymouth State in December. 

Saturday's game was littered with penalties, as the two teams combined for 14 minors. Castleton State went 2-for-6 on the man-advantage, while UMass Boston only managed one tally on six chances, but the lone tally was the equalizer that pushed the game into overtime.

Wadsworth gave the Spartans their first lead of the day 9:39 into the contest, off a pass from Eric Mack.

UMass Boston answered back exactly three minutes later, when Larkin recorded his ninth tally of the season, to tie the game 1-1. Seniors Mike Kuhn (Holbrook, Mass.) and Nathan Milam (Westland, Mich.) each picked up assists on the play.

The Spartans would tally the lone goal of the second period, as Kovalchik recorded a power-play marker at 1:48. The sophomore took passes from Kurt Johnson and Tyler Gaudry, before wristing home a shot to make it 2-1 heading into the third.

UMass Boston came out firing in the third period and managed to double up the Spartans on the scoreboard (2-1) and in shots on goal (16-8).

It was the Beacons' fourth-line that managed to tie the game at 2-2, as McStravick buried a shot at 8:56 to 34-minute scoring drought. Sophomore Albee Daley (Averill Park, N.Y.) and Connor Callow (Braintree, Mass.) earned assists on the play.

Castleton State wouldn't go away though, as Laking gave Castleton State their third and final lead of the day with a power-play goal at 11:38.

Neither side was able to generate much offense over the next five minutes, until the Spartans were whistled for their eighth and final penalty of the day at 17:26.

Just 18 seconds later UMass Boston made the Spartans pay, when Cornell rifled home a shot from the blue line for his fourth goal in two seasons as a Beacon.

The Beacons peppered Mulder with four more shots on goal before the end of regulation, but the freshman withstood the test.

Both sides opened the overtime playing cautiously, with Cornell registering the lone shot on goal of the first four minutes.

After a Castleton State face-off win, UMass Boston forced a turnover and Peter MacIntyre (Norfolk, Mass.) fed Lemire, who banged home the game-winner with 34 seconds left.

UMass Boston will play their final two road games of the regular season next weekend, when the Beacons travel to the University of Southern Maine (7 p.m.) and the University of New England (4 p.m.).