October 5, 2002

GENEVA, N.Y.—It wasn’t pretty, but the Hobart College football team dispatched winless St. Lawrence University 44-14 this afternoon at Boswell Field. The win ups the Statesmen’s record to 3-0 for the first time since 1977.

Hobart rode its aerial attack to victory as junior Craig Swanson (Jamestown/Jamestown, N.Y.) completed 21-of-29 passes for 296 yards and a Hobart record matching three touchdowns, despite two interceptions. Hobart’s four touchdown passes in the game also matched a team record. Sophomore Dan Suozzi (New Hampton/New Canaan, Conn.) caught a team-high seven passes for 99 yards.

The Saints opened the scoring for their first lead all season. On its second possession, St. Lawrence (0-4, 0-3 in UCAA) went 73 yards in eight plays, capped by an 11-yard Tom Anderson (Christian Brothers Academy/Syracuse, N.Y.) pass to Tim Gavin (Owego Free Academy/Owego, N.Y.). Gavin finished with eight receptions for 100 yards.

The Statesmen were able to build a 21-7 halftime lead, despite gaining just a single yard rushing in the first 30 minutes. Hobart evened the score late in the first quarter on a 25-yard pass from Swanson to sophomore wide receiver Rick Pinero (Smithtown/Hauppauge, N.Y.). Less than two minutes later the passing attack struck again, as Swanson found a wide open Jeremy Archer (Randolph/Randolph, N.Y.) for a 51-yard strike, including 30 yards after the catch.

In the third quarter, the Statesmen broke the game open with 16 unanswered points. Sophomore Eric Ampuja (Brockton/Brockton, Mass.) booted a 37-yard field goal to kick off the scoring spurt. Archer caught his second TD pass of the game just four minutes later, and sophomore Ty Godinho (Lancaster/Lancaster, N.Y.) closed the third quarter with a 5-yard scoring run.

St. Lawrence added its second TD early in the fourth quarter against Hobart’s second string defense, on a 14-yard Anderson pass to junior Bren Hayes (Tupper Lake/Tupper Lake, N.Y.).

A 10-yard Brian Goehle (Palmyra-Macedon/Palmyra, N.Y.) to Bobby Bunze (Walt Whitman/Huntington Station, N.Y.) pass accounted for the afternoon’s final score. It was the first collegiate touchdown pass and catch, respectively, for the junior and sophomore.

The win was the 11th in a row for the Statesmen (2-0 in UCAA) over the Saints, but was vastly different from 2001’s 47-0 Hobart win in Canton. In last season’s game, the Statesmen rushed for 442 yards. This afternoon, Hobart gained just 78.

Sophomore Skip Grantling (Clyde-Savanah/Clyde, N.Y.) and first-year David Marshall (Blair Academy/Pompton, Plains, N.J.) paced the Hobart defense with six tackles each, while Jon Shaw led St. Lawrence with nine stops.

Hobart returns to action at 2 p.m., on Oct. 12, at the University of Rochester.