Two members of the Hobart College hockey team were honored by the New England Hockey Conference today. Junior forward Jonas Toupal (Vclena, Czech Republic) was selected the Player of the Week and sophomore goaltender Alexander Connal (Simsbury, Conn.) was named the Goalie of the Week. First-year forward Travis Schneider (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) also earned a spot on the weekly honor roll.
After a 1-0-1 weekend at then No. 3 Trinity, the Statesmen moved up five spots to No. 6 in this week’s D3hockey.com poll, and three spots to No. 9 in the USCHO.com poll. Hobart is now 7-2-3 overall. The Statesmen are unbeaten in their last five games. Hobart is tied for 12th in the nation in scoring defense (2.00 ga/gm) and are tied for 15th in win percentage (.708).
In Friday night’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Bantams, Toupal scored the game-tying goal in the beginning of the third period. He leads Hobart with nine goals and 13 points. Toupal is third in the NEHC in goals and tied for fifth in points. He sits atop the conference and is tied for fourth in Division III with three game-winning goals this year.
Connal made a season-high 34 saves in Friday’s victory, and improved to 4-1-1 in goal this season. He is sporting a 1.81 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Connal ranks second in the NEHC in goals against average, save percentage and win percentage (.931).
Schneider chipped in a goal and an assist on the weekend. He assisted on Hobart’s first goal in the win. On Saturday, Schneider scored the Statesmen’s second goal, tying the game up at 2-2 early in the third period in what proved to be a 3-3 tie.
The Statesmen are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 30, when they take on Connecticut College at Chelsea Piers in New York City. The game time is set for 7 p.m.
