November 28, 2001

GENEVA, N.Y.–The SUNY-Geneseo hockey team took a 2-0 first period lead and never looked back en route to a 5-2 victory at Hobart College. The Statesmen failed to get on the board until the final four minutes of the contest.

The Ice Knights controlled the play early and broke through just 2:44 into the game. Senior captain Tony Scorsone (Niagara Scenics Jr. A/Geneseo, N.Y.) fired a shot through traffic that found the back of the net for a 1-0 Geneseo lead. The Knights struck again with just two seconds left in the first period as senior forward Jason Burgess (West Seneca Midgets/West Seneca, N.Y.) shoveled a backhand shot high in to the left corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead.

Neither team was able to capitalize on several strong scoring opportunities in the second period. Geneseo outshot the Hobart 13-10 in the middle 20 minutes.

In the third period, the Knights continued to stay just in front of the Statesmen. With just over six minutes to play sophomore forward Jon Campbell (Buffalo Lightning Jr. A/North Tonawanda, N.Y.) scored the eventual game-winner for a 3-0 lead. Two minutes later first-year forward Andy Herlihy (Tilton/Bow, N.H.) set up first-year center Kevin Coakley's (Tilton/Duxbury, Mass.) sixth goal of the season to get Hobart on the board. With 1:55 remaining in the contest, the Statesmen pulled first-year goalie Adam Lavelle (Bridgton Academy/Chelmsford, Mass.) in favor of an extra attacker. The strategy backfired as sophomore forward Brian Avery (Trenton Titans Jr. B/Princeton Junction, N.J.) and first-year forward Ryan Gage (Aquinas/Rochester, N.Y.) each scored empty netters 11 seconds apart for a 5-1 Geneseo lead. With just 54 seconds to go and the net still empty, junior forward Chris Thornton (UMass Amherst/Oyster Bay, N.Y.) set up first-year forward Andy Boschetto's (Tilton/Brookfield, Conn.) third goal of the season on the power play to close the scoring at 5-2.

Between the pipes, first-year goalie Brett Walker (Kindesley Klippers/Regina, Saskatchewan) stopped 34 shots for the win. Lavelle made 24 saves for Hobart. Geneseo (3-8-0) was 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Statesmen were 1-for-7.

Hobart continues its three-game homestand on Dec. 5, when it hosts Lebanon Valley College at 7 p.m.