RUTLAND, Vt. – The New England College women's ice hockey team brought a 2-2 tie into the period against Vermont State University-Castleton but ceded a pair of goals late to take the loss on Saturday at the Spartan Arena in Rutland, Vermont in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action.  

THE BASICS 
Score: New England College 2, VTSU-Castleton 4 
Records: Pilgrims 5-16-0, 1-14-0 NEHC | Spartans 7-12-2, 5-7-2 NEHC 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• The Spartans got the scoring started with a powerplay goal 6:42 into the opening period scored by Alex Johnson (Andover, Mass.) with assists coming from Amanda Vaughn (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and Katie Campoli (St. Petersburg, Fla.). The hosts would increase their first period lead to two as Vaughn netted one of her own with 2:47 left in the first period, assisted by Campoli and Julia Carpenter (Plymouth, Mich.). 
• 4:31 into the second, NEC would get right back into the game as senior forward AK Fuentes (Aspen, Colo.) would clean up on a deflected puck directly in front of the opposing net for her second goal of the season. The goal was assisted by graduate forward Cassie Kelly (Alexandria, Minn.). 
• A minute later, at the 5:52 mark, the 'Grims would tie the game up. Freshman forward Alexis Hornsby (Atkinson, N.H.) would find sophomore forward Meadow Gilchrist (Stamford, Conn.) behind the net, who would send a beautiful quick pass to sophomore forward Olivia Lindberg (Stockholm, Sweden) in front of the Castleton goal, who slapped a one-timer into the top right corner of the net, making it a 2-2 game.
• With 14:48 left in the game, VTSU-Castleton would break the tie with a goal by Moa Carlsson (Huddinge, Sweden) with the lone assist going to Vaughn. Just over two minutes later, the Spartans would cushion their lead with a fourth goal, this one being scored by Nora Pollestad (Stavanger, Norway), assisted by Johnson and Taylor Adams (Frankford, Ontario).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• NEC sophomore goaltender Amy Donnelly (Taunton, Mass) made 33 saves for the 'Grims, while permitting four goals in the loss.  
• Castleton goalkeeper Kara Boassaly (Ottawa, Ontario) stopped 19/21 shots faced on the day. 
• Shots on goal were 37-21 in favor of the Spartans. 

UP NEXT 

• NEC is back on the ice on Tuesday when they play a non-conference game at Worcester State University starting at 2:00 PM.  
• Castleton plays their next game at 6:00 PM next Friday as they travel to the University of Southern Maine.  

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.