Monday, December 2, 2013

BROCKPORT GOES DOWN, 4-3 AGAINST CASTLETON

Freshman Andrew Winsor (Coburg, ONT) made 38 saves including 21 in the first period to give The College at Brockport Hockey team a chance to win the consolation game of the Rutland Herald Invitational Tournament Sunday afternoon but it was a goal by host Castleton with 1:02 left in the third period that gave the Spartans a 4-3 victory in Castleton, VT.

Brockport (2-7-1) opened the scoring with a Kody Vaisanen (Dundalk, ONT) goal at the 8:44 mark of the first period giving the Golden Eagles an early lead.

Late in the period, with six and a half minutes remaining, Castleton (4-3-1) scored to tie up the game as the first period came to a close. In the first 20 minutes of action, the Spartans held a 22-7 advantage in shots but the play of Winsor with his 21 saves allowed the Golden Eagles to take a 1-1 game into the second period.

"Winsor played extremely well today in his first career start," said Head Coach Brian Dickinson. "I am proud of the effort from the whole team especially playing with a short bench. We received great leadership today from a number of guys."

Early in the second period, Castleton took a 2-1 lead with a goal at the 3:10 mark of the period. Brockport played a much more even second period and with 3:30 remaining, tied the game up again as Steve Sachman (Medford, NY) scored and the teams went into the second intermission with a 2-2 score.

Brockport came out firing on all cylinders in the third period and Michael Zagari (McKees Rocks, PA) found himself alone in the slot scoring with a shot to the low glove side to give Brockport the 3-2 lead 2:55 into the final period.

Exactly three minutes later, Castleton knotted the score once again and the teams played nearly the entire final 14 minutes of regulation tied at 3-3.

With less than two minutes remaining, Castleton cleared the puck and moved deep into the Brockport zone before a centering pass found the stick of a Spartan forward that scored the go-ahead goal with 1:02 left on the clock.

Winsor made his way to the bench in favor of the extra attacker for most of the final minute of the game and Brockport was able to apply some pressure in the Spartan zone but could not find the back of the net with the equalizer.

Brockport returns to action Friday resuming conference play with a road trip to Buffalo State and Fredonia as the Golden Eagles take on Fredonia Friday and Buffalo State Saturday in 7 pm games to finish the first semester of games.