December 11 , 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College staged a third period comeback with a pair of goals, but fell short, losing to visiting SUNY Oswego 5-3 in non-conference ice hockey action this evening. This marks the Statesmen’s first loss at The Cooler since Nov. 21, 2003, a 17-game home unbeaten streak.

The 11th-ranked Lakers (10-2-2) controlled much of the first period taking a 2-0 lead by the 12-minute mark. Sophomore forward Ryan Woodward (Picton, Ontario) notched the first goal of the game 7:46 into the period with a slap shot into the right corner of the net. Junior forward Jocelyn Dubord (LaChenaie, Quebec) doubled Oswego’s lead four minutes later.

Just over seven minutes into the second stanza Oswego took advantage of its third power-play opportunity as junior defenseman Tony Dufour (Cap Rouge, Quebec) made it a 3-0 game.

Down 3-0, the Hobart offense got things going with 5:11 left in the second period when sophomore forward Adam Scott (Manchester, Mass.) broke away from the Lakers’ defensemen and slipped the puck past Oswego goaltender Ryan Scott (Williamsville, N.Y.) for a short-handed goal. The Statesmen headed into the locker room down 3-1 after two frames.

Less than eight minutes into the final session, senior forward Craig Levey (Mississauga, Ontario) collected a pass from Mike McCarthy (Medfield, Mass.) and fired a slap shot past Scott to cut Oswego’s lead to one.

The Lakers answered 30 seconds later with a goal by Paul Perrier (Aurora, Ontario) to put Oswego back up by two.

Junior center Will Brame (West Hartford, Conn.) lit the lamp for the Statesmen with 7:49 left to play off Levey’s pass from behind the net. Looking for the equalizer late in the game, Hobart pulled its goalie, but was unable to tie the score as Oswego netted an empty net goal with one second left on the clock to ice the victory.

The Statesmen outshot the Lakers 34-27 for the game, but were unable to get anything going on the power play, finishing the contest 0-for-8. Oswego was 1-for-4 on power-play opportunities.

Between the pipes first-year goaltender Dimitri Papaevagelou (Windham, N.H.) made 22 stops for the Statesmen, while Scott had 31 stops for the Lakers, including 12 in the second period.

Hobart (6-2-4) does not play again until Jan. 14, traveling to Cortland for a 7 p.m., contest.