February 11, 2005

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College jumped ahead 3-0 within the opening six minutes of the game and never looked back on its way to an 8-5 victory over ECAC West rival Elmira in men’s ice hockey action this evening at The Cooler. Earning their fifth consecutive victory over the Soaring Eagles, the Statesmen take over the fourth and final spot for the league playoffs.

It didn’t take long for Hobart (13-4-4, 4-3-2 ECAC West) to get on the board as sophomore Jonathan Swift (Andover, Mass.) somehow snuck the puck past Elmira goalie Greg Fargo (Kingston, Ontario) for a 1-0 advantage just 1:38 into the game. It was first-year Shawn Houde (Manchester, N.H.) lighting the lamp a minute later on a rebound from a Brian Cibelli (Liverpool, N.Y.) shot for the 2-0 lead at the 2:42 mark.

Houde tallied his second goal of the game four minutes later, deflecting Mike Manos’s (North Andover, Mass.) slap shot from the point into the net for a power-play goal.

Elmira (9-11-3, 4-5-1 ECAC West) cut the lead back to two late in the first period with a short-handed goal by Andrew Morris (Hawkestone, Ontario) and assisted by Randy Campolini (North Andover, Mass.).

Hobart senior Craig Levey (Mississauga, Ontario) pushed the lead back to three with 35 seconds left in the period with a perfectly placed wrist shot for his fifth power-play goal of the season.

Coming out of the first intermission up three goals, junior Colby McVey (Chicago, Ill.) made if four, deking the goalie for a short-handed goal.

Down three goals with nearly 15 minutes remaining in the second period, the Soaring Eagles stormed back to within one with three unanswered goals. Pettie got things started with a power-play score 4:44 into the period, while Campolini earned his second point of the game to make it a 5-3 game.

With one second left in the stanza, it looked if the Statesmen would head into the third period up a pair of goals, but senior Jarrett Konkle (Milton, Ontario) found the back of the net to send Elmira into the locker room trailing by just one.

The Statesmen wouldn’t let the Eagles getting any closer, icing the victory with a pair of goals in the opening four minutes. First-year Edward Brzek (Duxbury, Mass.) and junior Will Brame (West Hartford, Conn.) both lit the lamp early in the final session to secure the Statesmen’s three-goal victory.

Konkle added an extra attacker goal with 27 second left, but the three-goal margin was too much for the Eagles to make up.

In goal, first-year Dimitri Papaevagelou (Windham, N.H.) had 23 saves for Hobart, while Fargo and Raphael Cundari (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) combined for 25 stops.

Hobart outshot Elmira 33-28 for the game and was 3-of-5 on the power play, while the Eagles were just 2-of-9.

The 14th-ranked Statesmen return to action tomorrow, Feb. 12, hosting Utica College at 4 p.m., at The Cooler.