GENEVA, N.Y. – The No. 6/5 Hobart College ice hockey team collected a 5-2 ECAC West win over Elmira at The Cooler this afternoon. First-year Jonas Toupal scored a team-high two goals as the Statesmen improve to 11-0-0 at home this season.
Hobart (19-4-2, 12-3-0 ECAC West) took a 1-0 lead at 14:40 of the first period when Toupal scored his first collegiate goal. JuniorConnor Simon drew a double team at the blue line and slipped a pass to Toupal. Toupal snapped a shot past Charl Pretorius. The Statesmen’s 1-0 lead held through the end of the first period thanks to a couple of key saves from senior goalie Lino Chimienti.
Senior Mac Olson’s 13th goal of the season gave Hobart a 2-0 lead at 5:20 of the second period. Sophomore Vincent Russo dug a loose puck out of the corner and fed a centering pass to Olson. Olson dribbled the puck around Pretorius and backhanded a shot into the open half of the net.
Halfway through the second period, Elmira (11-11-3, 4-9-2 ECAC West) called a timeout to stymie the Hobart momentum. Following the timeout, the Soaring Eagles went on the power play and began to turn the momentum. While Elmira was not able to convert on the 5-on-3 opportunity, they fired eight shots on goal. The Soaring Eagles capitalized on their third power play of the night when Jeremy Marginsky scored his first goal of the game. He collected a rebound in front of Chimienti and lifted his shot over the goalie’s pad. Carter Shinkaruk and Brian Depp were credited with assists on the power-play goal. Three minutes later, Marginsky struck again to tie the game at 2-2. Tyler Theodoulou was credited with the assist.
At 1:47 of the third period, Toupal pocketed his second goal of the game and season. Toupal blocked an Elmira shot and was off to the races, sliding a wrist shot between Pretorius’ pads. Junior Mitch Beyer doubled the Statesmen’s lead with an unassisted goal at 6:37 of the period. Senior Brad Robbins completed the scoring for the Statesmen with a one-time blast from inside the left faceoff circle. Robbins’ power-play goal beat Pretorius top shelf. Beyer set up the one-timer with a cross ice pass from the point. Russo also collected his second assist of the game on the goal.
Chimienti started in goal for the Statesmen and made 40 saves in his final regular season home game in the Hobart goal. Pretorius made 38 saves in the Elmira goal in 59:02 of action.
The Statesmen went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Soaring Eagles were 1-for-5. Hobart held a slight 43-42 advantage in shots on goal.
Hobart is the top seed in the ECAC West Tournament and has a first round bye. The Statesmen will host a tournament semifinal game at The Cooler on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Statesmen will face the lowest remaining seed.
