The Hobart College hockey team moved up one spot to No. 5 in the USCHO.com poll following a 1-0-1 weekend in New England Hockey Conference play. The Statesmen, who are 10-3-2 overall this season, will begin a four-game road trip this weekend, Jan. 17-18.
This is the third time that Hobart has been ranked fifth in the USCHO poll. The Statesmen were No. 5 in the preseason poll and on Nov. 11.
On Friday, Hobart and Babson skated to a 0-0 tie at The Cooler. It was the first scoreless tie in program history and the first time the Statesmen were shutout at home since March 19, 2016. Sophomore goalie Joe Halstrom stopped all 30 shots for his second shutout of the season. He was named to the NEHC weekly honor roll by the conference office today. On Saturday, Hobart scored two goals in each period as it defeated the Beacons 6-2. Six different players scored for the Statesmen and three players shared game-high honors with two points each. Sophomore Liam Lascelle started in goal and made 27 saves as he earned his first victory of the season.
The Statesmen are 4-3-1 in conference play and currently sit in fourth place in the NEHC with nine points. Hobart will be in Boston on Friday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m. when it takes on Suffolk. The Statesmen will then head to Providence, R.I., to take on Johnson & Wales on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. Hobart has relied on its depth this season to score 61 goals. Twenty different players have recorded at least a goal and 24 players have at least one point so far this season. This is the fourth straight year that the Statesmen have had 20 different goal scorers. Hobart is ranked among the nation’s best in scoring margin (7th, +2.00), scoring defense (10th, 2.07), scoring offense (12th, 4.07), winning percentage (12th, .733) and penalty kill percentage (16th, 87.1%).
Individually, junior Alec Robitaille and senior Lawson MacDougall lead the team with 13 points each. Robitaille has a team best seven goals and six assists and MacDougall has five goals and eight assists this season. Junior Mike Faulkner leads the Statesmen with nine assists. Halstrom has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 9-3-2 with a 2.05 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.
The Rams are 5-9-1 overall this season with a 1-6-1 mark in the NEHC. Suffolk is coming off an 8-4 win over Castleton on Saturday. Brian Brooks and Devin Lowe share the team lead with nine points each. Four different Rams share the team lead with four goals each. Cal Wilcox has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 3-5-1 with a 4.50 GAA and a .883 save percentage.
Friday’s game will be the fourth meeting between Hobart and Suffolk. The Statesmen lead the all-time series 2-1-0, but the Rams won the only meeting in Boston, a 5-2 decision last season. Hobart rallied for a 7-4 victory at The Cooler earlier this season.
The Wildcats enter the week with a 3-11-0 overall record and are winless in the conference play. Johnson & Wales will be at Anna Maria on Tuesday and host Skidmore on Friday. Matt Bernot enters the week with a team-best 12 points on six goals and six assists. Connor Bechtel has a team-best eight assists. Mike Rockwell has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 3-8-0 with a 4.42 GAA and a .896 save percentage.
Saturday’s game will be the forth meeting between the Statesmen and Wildcats. Hobart has won each of the first three meetings, outscoring Johnson & Wales 22-3. The Statesmen won the first meeting this season 9-0 in Geneva.
