GENEVA, N.Y.–The No. 14 Hobart College hockey team played through 65 minutes to a 3-3 overtime tie with No. 7 Utica in an ECAC West game tonight at The Cooler. The Statesmen are now 2-1-4 overall and 2-0-3 in conference play, while the Pioneers are 5-1-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the ECAC West.
It’s the second straight tie for Hobart and the fifth overtime game this season for the Statesmen. Hobart was down 3-2 in the third period, and pulled sophomore goalie Lino Chimienti (Montreal/Quebec) for an extra skater with 57 seconds on the clock. Three seconds after pulling their goalie, junior Keith Clarke (Westmeath, Ontario) tipped in a blast from junior Ryan Michel from the blue line to tie the game for the Statesmen at 3-3 and eventually send it to overtime.
Sophomore Bo Webster (Aurora/Ontario) led Hobart with a goal and two assists. Chimienti finished with 25 saves in 64:57 in goal. Three different Pioneers scored, and Nick Therrien played all 65 minutes in goal for Utica and stopped 38 shots.
Just 7:16 into the first period, junior Robert Sovik (Prague, Czech Republic) put the Statesmen on the board. Webster had just finished serving a penalty and as he was coming out of the box he received a long pass from first-year Jon Neal (Encinitas, Calif.). Webster fed the puck to Sovik who buried it for his fourth goal of the season.
At 11:41 in the first, Peter LaFosse tied things up for Utica. After Chimienti denied two shots by LaFosse, his persistence paid off as he sent home the loose puck through the crowd in front of the net for a shorthanded goal for the Pioneers.
With 1:40 left in the opening period, Webster lifted a shot into the top left corner of the goal off a pass across the top of the faceoff circle from junior Terrence O’Neill (Kearny, N.J.). Junior Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) also earned an assist on the play. Webster’s first goal this season gave the Statesmen a 2-1 advantage.
The Pioneers came out strong in the second half, scoring twice to take a 3-2 lead. Rob Morton scored a shorthanded goal 11:12 into the second on a rush off a pass from Trever Hertz. At 15:52, Kevin Kirisits took advantage of a Utica 5-on-3 power play. Shortly after the Pioneers won a faceoff, Kirisits wound up for slap shot from the point and beat Chimienti to the lower left side of the goal. Mike Baird and Justin Hogan were credited with the assists.
The Statesmen were called for a penalty with 3:03 left in the final period. Hobart killed Utica’s power play, and then pulled its goalie for an extra skater. Clarke tipped in the game-tying goal with 54 seconds left in regulation. Webster and Michel earned the assists.
Utica held a 3-2 advantage in shots in the extra period, and had a power play for the final 1:50, but the Statesmen held off the Pioneers for the tie.
Hobart held a 41-28 advantage in total shots. Utica finished 1-for-8 on the power play and killed off all five of the Statesmen’s power plays.
