Hobart College junior Terrence O’Neill (Kearny, N.J.) scored the game-winning goal 56 seconds into overtime to give the Statesmen a 3-2 victory over host Elmira in an ECAC West contest played at the Soaring Eagles’ Murray Athletic Center. The Statesmen improve to 12-8-4 overall and 6-5-3 in the ECAC West.
It’s the eighth time this season the Statesmen have gone to overtime. Junior Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) and sophomore Ben Gamache (Longlac, Ontario) each scored for Hobart. Sophomore goalie Lino Chimienti (Montreal, Ontario) played 60:19 in goal and finished with 38 saves.
The Statesmen have now clinched the No. 3 seed in the ECAC West Tournament and will host the No. 6 seed in a first round game on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
Elmira falls to 14-9-1 and 9-4-1 in conference. Michael Collins led the Soaring Eagles with a goal and an assist. Ryan de Melo played 60:52 in goal and turned aside 50 shots.
Hobart jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 5:46 into the game. McBride tipped in a backhanded shot by classmate Peter Ryan (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.). It was his sixth goal this season. Elmira answered with 7:40 left in the first. Alexander Taulien scored off passes from Jesper Strale and Collins. With just under five minutes left in the opening period, junior Bronson Kovacs (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario) came inches away from scoring, as his shot on a short-handed breakaway clanged off the right post.
It appeared that the Statesmen had scored with 6:01 left in the second period. After a series of quick passes right in front of the goal, it looked like junior Tommaso Traversa (Torino, Italy) had tipped in the puck, however, the goal was called off as the referees said it was kicked across the line. With 2:14 left in the second period, the Soaring Eagles did take a 2-1 lead on a short-handed goal. Collins lifted a shot into the top left corner off an assist from Greg Whittle.
With 1:17 left in the third period after an Elmira timeout, Hobart pulled Chimienti for the extra skater. With 45 seconds left in regulation, Gamache sent home the game-tying goal off an assist from sophomore Mac Olson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.). It was Gamache’s 10th goal this year. On a power play and just 56 seconds into overtime, O’Neill scored the game winner, his third goal this season, after passes from sophomore Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario) and junior Ryan Michel (Camillus, N.Y.).
The Statesmen held a 53-40 advantage in shots. Hobart went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Elmira finished 1-for-5.
