GENEVA, N.Y.–The No. 7 Hobart College hockey team hung on to defeat visiting Cortland 5-4 this afternoon in a non-conference game played at The Cooler. The Statesmen are now 2-0, and the Red Dragons fall to 0-2.
Senior Cam Miller (Cheswick, Pa.) scored two goals and classmate Frank Salituro (Vaughan, Ontario) produced a goal and an assist. Seniors Ryan Corcoran (Stamford, Conn.) and Bobby Hannah (Burbank, Calif.) each notched two assists in the victory.
The Statesmen jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first period. At 6:43 in, sophomore Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) scored his second goal in as many games. He took a pass from Hannah who was on the right side of the goal, and backhanded the puck into the back of the net. Miller scored his first of the year at 12:06 in the first. Miller carried the puck around the Cortland goalie, and put it in behind him to make it 2-0. The Red Dragons broke through at 13:36. Adam Bevilacqua sent a shot home off assists from Jeff Vanzant and Nick Zappiea.
At 7:36 into the second period, first-year Ben Gamache (Longlac, Ontario) recorded his first collegiate goal off assists from classmates Mac Olson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario). The Red Dragons then notched back-to-back tallies from Michael Lysyj and Chris Kaleta to make it 3-3 at 10:30 in the second. Miller took back the lead for Hobart at 12:04, stuffing in a loose rebound. First-year Alex Quinn (Arlington, Mass.) and Corcoran logged the assists. Salituro added his second goal of the season with 4:32 remaining in the second.
Mike Henrici capitalized on a power play at 8:03 in the third period for the final margin. The Statesmen held off a push by the Red Dragons at the end of the third period. After a flurry of penalties, Hobart found itself in a 5-on-3 scenario, but the Statesmen defense was strong, and senior Marty Ausserhofer (Brunico, Italy) turned aside two big shots in the final minutes.
Ausserhofer played all 60 minutes in goal for Hobart and made 31 saves. Lyle Rocker played 59:26 and stopped 35 shots. The Statesmen enjoyed a 40-35 lead in shots. Hobart went 0-for-6 on the power play, while Cortland went 1-for-10.
The Statesmen will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 2, when they host Manhattanville for an ECAC West contest at 7 p.m.