After two ECAC West wins over Nazareth this weekend, two members of the Hobart College hockey team were honored by the ECAC West. In addition, the Statesmen moved up one spot to No. 4 in the nation in the USCHO.com poll.
Hobart (14-2-2, 7-1-0 ECAC West) remained at No. 3 for the third straight week in D3hockey.com’s poll. After a weekend split between the No. 1 and 2 teams, the Statesmen also earned one first place vote in this week’s D3hockey poll. Senior forward Brad Robbins (Murrieta, Calif.) was tabbed the ECAC West Player of the Week and sophomore goaltender Frank Oplinger (Sewickley, Pa.) was selected the Goalie of the Week for the second week in a row.
Robbins posted a team-high five points on four goals and an assist over the weekend. He scored all of Hobart’s goals, one in each period, as the Statesmen topped Nazareth 3-0 on Friday night. On Saturday, Robbins registered his fourth straight goal against the Golden Flyers 6:25 into the first period. Robbins also added an assist in Saturday’s 6-2 victory. He leads Hobart and ranks third in the league with 13 goals and ranks second on the team and fifth in the conference with 20 points.
Oplinger made a total of 63 saves and sported a 0.54 GAA and a .984 save percentage over the weekend. He earned his third career shutout with 27 saves on Friday, tying him for third on Hobart’s career shutout list. On Saturday, Oplinger turned aide 36 of the 37 shots he faced. He improved to 6-1-0 in goal. Oplinger is sporting a 1.81 goals against average and a .936 save percentage this season.
The Statesmen rank third in the nation in team winning percentage (.833). Hobart is sixth in Division III in both scoring defense (1.83 ga/gm) and on the penalty kill (90.4%) and tied for eighth in scoring offense (4.00 g/gm). The Statesmen’s unbeaten streak stands at 10 games, the second longest streak in the nation.
Hobart will be back in The Cooler for two ECAC West games this weekend. Utica (9-6-3, 3-3-2) travels to Geneva on Friday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m., and the teams will meet again on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 4 p.m.
