The Castleton State women’s hockey team finished their difficult season with an overall record of 2-17 in the ECAC and 5-10 in non-conference play.The Spartans dropped their last 10 out of 11 games and failed to grab a birth to the ECAC tournament.

“Obviously we are all disappointed about the way the season ended, and making the playoffs was a big goal of ours; however that doesn’t mean that positive strides weren’t taken along the way,” said head coach David Stockdale.

The Spartans entered the season looking uphill, coming off last year’s dismal 7-18 record. They also put 10 underclassmen on the ice with six freshman and four sophomores.

“With such a young team it was critical that our young players gain experience, and many of them had an opportunity to play in a lot of different situations over the course of the year and gain valuable experience,” Stockdale said days after the season came to a close with a 6-3 loss to Oswego.

The Spartans return every player to next year’s team, including standout ECAC goalie of the year Vanessa Carter who has been a stud for the Spartans between the pipes. Carter had an impressive 659 saves out of a possible 731 this season.

“I expect our program to take a big step forward next season. We return all of our players from this year, and will be adding a large recruiting class to our program,” Stockdale said.

“As a result we will have increased depth and a higher overall skill level. It will be an exciting season with the incoming players.”

Stockdale says that there are already four students committed to joining CSC and the hockey team, but he is also very hopeful about some others who have shown some interest in the program.

The biggest thing the Spartans will be looking for next year is someone who can put the puck in the back of the net and generate some offense. The team was shut out nine times this year and only scored one goal on three other occasions, all in losing efforts.

“It was extremely important that we lay the foundation for success in the years to come and I think we were largely successful in doing that,” said Stockdale.