By Warren Kozireski —
The Hobart Statesmen are trying to become just the fourth program in Division III history to win three consecutive national championships after they won the first two in school history in 2023 and 2024.
Picked in the preseason poll as #1 in the nation, all they have done since is remain atop that USCHO poll all season with just one loss and one tie.
The loss came after running out to a 17-0-0 record to Albertus Magnus in overtime on Jan. 31. The tie was in the final game of the regular season 0-0 at Babson.
“They know what they’re trying to prove; the goal is to constantly get better,” head coach Mark Taylor said after their first-round playoff victory over Albertus Magnus. “We have a strong tradition here of alums that are behind us and for us and guys take a lot of pride in trying to raise the banner a notch higher. That’s how we do it.
“We also trust the process and really respect the game of hockey. The name of the game is you have to bring it every single night no matter who you’re playing and whatever the score is.”
Hobart unsurprisingly dominated the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) winning their fourth consecutive regular season title and almost swept the postseason awards with Player of the Year Tanner Daniels, Goaltender of the Year Damon Beaver and now four-time Coach of the Year Mark Taylor as well as taking up four of the six slots on the All-Conference First Team.
Daniels led the league in points with 13 goals and 15 assists in league play. His 13 goals ranked first in the league while his 15 assists ranked tied for third in NEHC action. Only four of his 13 tallies were powerplay goals. Daniels also led the league with an impressive +26 plus/minus rating.
Beaver finished with a 9-1-0 record and led the league in save percentage (.948). Overall, the junior netminder led all Division III goaltenders with a .955 save percentage and finished second nationally in goals against average (1.08). Beaver finished the regular season with a 12-1-0 record and six shutouts, helping lead the Statesmen to the best scoring defense in the nation. He is tied for fourth in NCAA history with 19 career shutouts.
Besides Daniels and Beaver, senior forward Luke Aquaro and graduate student defenseman Austin Mourar were First Team selections, senior defenseman Cooper Swift was put on the Second Team while senior forward Shane Shell and sophomore defenseman Bauer Morrissey (Skaneateles) and Conor Lally were Third Team picks.
Add that the playoff victory March 1 marked the Statemen’s 50 consecutive victory at The Cooler in Geneva.
“I love the fans here. We don’t have 8,000 people here, but we have people here when it’s pretty cold and people here when it was freezing in here when it had no sides on it. They take care of us and we want to care of them. 50 means a lot because they were here in the fourth overtime when the students were on break. The 50 is for them.”
Hobart defeated Adrian in overtime to win the 2023 national championship and shut out Trinity in 2024. No matter what happens this coming weekend in the NEHC semi-finals and finals, they will receive a bid to the NCAA tournament trying to join Wisconsin-Stevens Pont (1989, 1990, 1991) and Middlebury twice (1995-99, 5 years and 2004, 2004, 2006) to win three consecutive titles.
(Photo by Koz, NY Hockey OnLine)
