The No. 9 Hobart College hockey team played through 65 minutes to a 4-4 tie with Nazareth tonight in an ECAC West game played in Rochester, N.Y. It’s the second straight tie for the Statesmen who are now 1-0-2 both overall and in the conference. The Golden Flyers are 1-1-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the ECAC West.
Junior Bronson Kovacs (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario) led Hobart with a goal and an assist. Junior Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) chipped in two assists. Chris Murray scored twice for Nazareth. Ben Blasko and Jordan Ciccarello both produced a goal and an assist for the Golden Flyers.
With 2:30 left in the first period, Chris Murray put Nazareth up 1-0. Blasko earned an assist on the play. Just 46 seconds into the second period the Golden Flyers went up 2-0 on a power-play goal by Ciccarello. Tom Seravalli and Mark Zavorin were credited with the assists.
Hobart took over the momentum for the middle of the second period, scoring three straight goals. Nazareth was called for a five-minute major penalty and then for another two-minute cross-checking penalty. In the 5-on-3 that followed, Kovacs put the Statesmen on the board at 9:01 in the second. He blasted a one-timer that bounced off the post and into the back of the goal after passes from first-year Jon Neal (Encinitas, Calif.) and McBride. While still on a 5-on-3, sophomore Ben Gamache (Longlac, Ontario) made it 2-2 with his power-play goal. Kovacs set up the play. With 1:33 left in the second, first-year Carl Belizario (Dorval, Quebec) notched his first collegiate goal to put Hobart up 3-2 during a 4-on-4.
With 1:11 remaining in the second and just 22 seconds after Hobart had tied up the game, Blasko answered for the Golden Flyers with the teams still 4-on-4, tying the game at 3-3. Murray and Ciccarello logged the assists.
With 3:51 left in the third period, Murray produced his second goal of the night to put Nazareth up 4-3. Hobart pulled its goalie for an extra-attacker and with just 24 seconds left on the clock, sophomore Mac Olson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) knotted the game at four for the Statesmen. Junior Ryan Michel (Camillus, N.Y.) and McBride registered the assists.
The Statesmen held a 3-1 advantage in shots in the extra five minutes, but could not find the game-winning goal. Hobart recorded a 44-21 lead in total shots. The Statesmen were 2-for-8 on the power play, while the Golden Flyers went 2-for-5. Sophomore Lino Chimienti (Montreal, Quebec) played 64:22 in goal for Hobart and made 17 saves. Ed Zdolshek played all 65 minutes in goal for Nazareth and finished with 40 saves.
