Spartans Roll Past Johnson
CASTLETON, Vt. - Sophomore attackman Nohea King (St. Albans, Vt.) scored four goals and dished out one assist to lead Castleton over Johnson State College, 16-0, in the teams' North Atlantic Conference (NAC) season opener on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.
The Spartans, winners of three-straight, improve to 3-4 overall on the season and 1-0 in NAC play. The Badgers fall to 0-3 overall (0-1 NAC).
Offensively for Castleton, Alex Green (Braintree, Vt.) and Will Stuhler (Madison, N.J.) notched hat tricks while David Whitlock (Randolph, Vt.) added two goals. Adam Groot (Canandaigua, N.Y.), Kenneth Bourneuf (Waterbury, Vt.), Jake Krantz (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), and Derek Riley (Randolph, Vt.) chipped in with a goal each to round out the scoring for the Spartans.
Phil Patterson (Essex, Vt.) led Castleton in the assist department with two on the afternoon.
At 8:48 of the first period, Stuhler opened up the scoring for Castleton dodging a defender and ripping a shot home past Johnson State goaltender Branden Sawyer (E. Greenwich, R.I.) for a 1-0 lead.
Sawyer finished the contest with 15 saves in net while allowing 13 markers. Sawyer split time with backup goaltender Jeff Boesse (Moretown, Vt.) who gave up three goals and made two stops.
King scored his first of four goals late in the first period at 3:10 finishing on a beautiful feed from Groot for his 10th goal of the season to make it 2-0.
In the second, the Spartans used a six-goal frame to put the game on ice. King started the scoring outburst with a man-up goal at 13:43, his 11th of the season, on a slick pass from Patterson for a 3-0 advantage.
After Green's team-leading 15th goal of the season at 12:52, Stuhler whistled a shot past Sawyer at 10:21 to give the Spartans a 5-0 advantage. King and Green notched two goals apiece in the second while Stuhler and Bourneuf tallied a goal each in the frame.
Castleton won the faceoff match up 13-19, grabbed 59 groundballs in the contest and went 17-for-21 in clear attempts. The Badgers committed 36 turnovers in the game while allowing 64 shots total in the contest.
King added five groundballs and two caused turnovers while teammate Craig MacDerment (Clifton Park, N.Y.) went 7-for-9 in faceoff chances, scooped a game-high nine groundballs and caused one turnover.
Dave DeGhetto (Clifton, N.J.) made two saves in net for Castleton improving to 3-4 overall on the season.
Johnson State will next play on Saturday, April 9 at the University of Maine-Farmington while the Spartans return to action at home on Monday, April 4 against Kean at 4 pm.