The Hobart College hockey team scored two goals in the first two minutes of the game and went on to defeat Nichols College 4-1 in a non-league contest tonight in the Bisons’ Levy Rink.
The Statesmen improve to 5-4-4 overall, picking up their third straight victory. Sophomore Ben Gamache (Longlac, Ontario) led the Hobart effort with a goal and an assist. Sophomore Lino Chimienti (Montreal, Quebec) finished with 23 saves in goal. Nichols falls to 8-3-2 overall.
Just 58 seconds into the game, senior Tommy Fiorentino (New Hartford, N.Y.) fired home a rebound to put the Statesmen up 1-0. It was Fiorentino’s third goal this year. Junior Tommaso Traversa (Torino, Italy) and first-year Jon Neal (Encinitas, Calif.) earned the assists. Just 49 seconds later, first-year Carl Belizario (Dorval, Quebec) made it 2-0 with his third goal this season. Junior Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) and sophomore Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario) were credited with the assists.
Joe Sposit put the Bison on the board with 4:50 left in the opening period with a power-play goal. His backhanded shot came after passes from Mike Weaver and Josh DeLoach.
Hobart continued to pour it on in the second period. Just 1:12 in, Gamache capitalized on a feed from sophomore Mac Olson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.). Gamache’s third goal this season stretched the Statesmen lead to 3-1. At 12:36 in the middle period, first-year Bobby Sokol (Belle Vernon, Pa.) sent home a rebound from a shot by Gamache on a power play to give Hobart a 4-1 advantage. Junior Bronson Kovacs (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) also notched an assist on the play. It was Sokol’s second tally this year.
The Statesmen finished with a 44-24 advantage in shots. Hobart went 1-for-9 on the power play, and the Bison finished 1-for-8. Alex Larson finished with 40 saves in all 60 minutes in goal for Nichols.
