February 17, 2007

Keith Longo collected 34 saves for the Statesmen. (Photo by Kevin Colton)

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College junior Shawn Houde (Manchester, N.H.) led the Statesmen ice hockey team past Utica 5-1 on senior day today at The Cooler. Hobart wraps up its regular season schedule with a 13-7-5 overall record, and a 5-7-3 ECAC West mark, while the Pioneers end at 13-8-3 overall, and 7-5-3 in league play.

Houde connected on his first goal of the night at 9:16 in the first period, assisted by sophomore Andrew Brennan (Milford, Mass.). Six minutes later, senior Mike McCarthy (Medfield, Mass.) set up first-year Aleksey Koval (Kiev, Ukraine) for what proved to be the game-winner on a scramble in front of the goal, giving the Statesmen a 2-0 lead heading into the first break.

Hobart built its lead in the second period, with two power-play goals from senior Mike Manos (North Andover, Mass.) and Houde. McCarthy and junior Brian Cibelli (Liverpool, N.Y.) set up Manos’ goal, a one-timer from the point, while sophomore Jason Merritt (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and senior Conor Bradley (West Hartford, Conn.) assisted on Houde’s second goal of the day. The Statesmen took a decisive 4-0 lead into the second intermission.

Sophomore Josh Merson (Hanover, Md.) was responsible for the Pioneer’s lone tally. He was assisted by classmate Colin Kingston (Vail, Colo.) and senior Kevin Krogol (Livonia, Mich.) at 13:02 in the third. McCarthy answered 48 seconds later with an empty net goal for the Statesmen.

Sophomore goalkeeper Keith Longo (Hopedale, Mass.) recorded 34 saves en route to his seventh win of the season. He held the Pioneers scoreless for over 53 minutes. Junior Adam Dekker (Muskegon, Mich.) collected 10 saves for Utica, while first-year Anthony Luckow (Shelby TWP, Mich.) made eight stops.

Hobart, currently ranked 12th in the nation, will be in action again on Feb. 21 when they travel to Elmira for the first round of the ECAC West playoffs.