The Hobart College hockey team moved up to No. 8 in the nation in the D3hockey.com poll and No. 10 in the USCHO.com rankings. The Statesmen captured their third ECAC West tournament title in program history on Saturday night with a 2-1 overtime victory over Neumann.
Hobart has posted 10 straight wins and is 21-6-0 overall. The current Statesmen have also tied the 2008-09 team for the Hobart record for wins in a season. The Statesmen’s unbeaten streak ranks third in the nation. Only Adrian and Nichols have longer streaks, posting 11 straight games without a loss. Hobart ranks fifth in the country in team winning percentage (.778). The Statesmen also rank 11th in scoring offense (3.85 g/gm), 17th in scoring defense (2.37 ga/gm), and 13th on the power play (23.7 percent).
Senior forward Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario) leads the Statesmen with 25 points on a team-high 17 assists and eight goals. Senior forward Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) has posted a team-high 13 goals and added nine assists for 22 points. First-year goaltender Frank Oplinger (Sewickley, Pa.) has played the majority of minutes between the pipes. He ranks fifth in the nation in save percentage (.939), tied for fifth in win percentage (.875) and 10th in goals against average (1.85).
The Statesmen earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and will host Oswego (18-4-4) in a first round game in The Cooler on Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the game will be $6 for adults, $4 for students with ID and $3 for children under 12. Children two years old and under are admitted free. There are no advance sale tickets. The ticket gate will open at 6 p.m. Fans unable to make it to The Cooler can follow the action online with Live Stats and All-Access Video. The game will also be broadcast live on WHWS-FM (105.7 in Geneva).
