December 3 , 2005

Senior Matthew Garman scored two goals to lift Hobart to a 6-4 win over visiting Lebanon Valley. (photo by Kevin Colton)

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College senior forward Matt Garman (Wexford, Pa.) registered two goals to lead the Statesmen to a hard fought 6-4 win over Lebanon Valley this afternoon at the Geneva Recreation Complex in ECAC West hockey action.

Hobart (8-2-0, 3-2-0 ECAC West) controlled the opening 20 minutes of play, outshooting the Flying Dutchmen 21-6. Garman opened the scoring at the 4:43 mark, one-timing a crossing pass from classmate Ed Poirier (Methuen, Mass.) just inside the left circle. Senior Colby McVey (Chicago, Ill.) also recorded an assist on Garman’s third goal of the season.

The visitors netted the equalizer less than four minutes later when sophomore forward Justin Todd (Yellowknife, Northwest Territory) snuck his fourth goal of the season under the right arm of sophomore goaltender Dimitri Papaevagelou (Windham, N.H.).

The Statesmen quickly responded with a pair of goals from sophomore forward Brian Cibelli (Liverpool, N.Y.) and first-year forward Jason Merritt (Chapel Hill, N.C.) at the 15:59 and 16:54 marks, respectively, to take a 3-1 advantage into the locker room.

With Hobart leading 4-2 midway through the second stanza, Lebanon Valley (3-6-0, 0-4-0) utilized the power play to climb back into the game and carry the offensive pressure. The Dutchmen capitalized on a five-minute Stateman major penalty, netting two power-play goals in the span of 48 seconds. Senior Jason Slusher (Bel Air, Md.) cut the deficit to one at the 11:56 mark, while first-year Matt Rowe (New Market, Ontario) knotted the game at four on a two-man advantage.

In the third period, Hobart peppered Lebanon Valley senior netminder Sonny Holding (Bowie, Md.) with 14 shots. The Statesmen offensive pressure finally paid of as sophomore Shawn Houde (Manchester, N.H.) circled the net and ripped home the decisive goal at the 12:36 mark. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Garman rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal with 1:51 remaining to ensure the Statesmen’s seventh consecutive win.

Hobart first-year goaltender Keith Longo (Hopedale, Mass.) stopped 15 of 17 shots in 32 minutes and 6 seconds to record his sixth win of the season, while Papaevagelou made eight saves. Holding finished with 40 saves.

Hobart returns to action at 4 p.m on Dec. 10, when the Statesmen host Amherst College (3-2-0).