The Hobart College hockey team scored four goals in the third period to rally for a 7-4 win over Geneseo. Junior Brad Robbins (Murrieta, Calif.) notched a hat trick in the victory for the Statesmen.
Hobart improves to 9-5-0 overall, while the Knights are now 6-6-2 this season. Senior Terrence O’Neill (Kearny, N.J.) notched three assists for the Statesmen. Ryan Michel (Camillus, N.Y.)also produced three points on a goal and two assists and senior Bronson Kovacs (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario) added two assists in the win.
The Knights jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the opening period. Trevor Hills found the back of the net after a feed from Justin Scharfe at 12:29. David Ripple then capitalized on a power play for Geneseo just over four minutes later. Jack Caradonna and Tyler Brickler were credited with the assists. With just 49 seconds left in the first, junior Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) broke through for the Statesmen. His eighth goal of the year came off passes from Kovacs and Michel.
Just 3:31 into the second period, Brickler sent home a shot to give the Knights a 3-1 advantage. At 13:05 into the period, Robbins logged his first goal of the night off feeds from O’Neill and Michel to get the Statesmen within one. However, 2:04 later, Hills registered his second goal of the game to make it 4-2. Scharfe set up the play. With 4:05 remaining in the second and Hobart on the power play, Michel produced his first goal of the season after passes from junior Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario) and O’Neill, pulling Hobart within one goal for a second time.
The Statesmen took control in the third period scoring four unanswered goals. Just 39 seconds in, senior Robert Sovik (Prague, Czech Republic) tallied his fifth goal of the year to tie the game up at 4-4. O’Neill logged the assist. Senior Peter Ryan (Bloomfield, Mich.) notched his first goal of the season 21 seconds later to put Hobart on top. Senior Sean Rudy (Long Sault, Ontario) and first-year Andrew Silard (Greenwich, Conn.) earned the assists. Robbins recorded the final two goals of the period, both coming on power plays. He made it 6-4 at 6:51 into the third, with sophomore Jon Neal (Encinitas, Calif.) and Kovacs logging the assists. Robbins completed his hat trick with 3:30 left in the game. Sophomore Nick Bingaman (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) set up the final goal.
Junior goalie Lino Chimienti (Montreal, Quebec) played 59:01 in goal for the Statesmen and finished with 31 saves. Bryan Haude played the opening 46:51 and made 42 saves for Geneseo. Matt Leon came in for the final 13:09 and stopped seven shots. Hobart finished with a 56-35 advantage in shots. The Statesmen went 4-for-8 on the power play, while the Knights went 1-for-5.
The Statesmen will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 16, when they host Salve Regina for a non-league game at home in The Cooler at 7 p.m.
