Adam Lavelle

February 15, 2003

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College sophomore Adam Lavelle (Chelmsford, Mass.) grabbed 33 saves tonight against visiting Elmira College to lead the Statesmen past the 11th-ranked Soaring Eagles 5-3 in ECAC West ice hockey action. Earning his 24th career victory, Lavelle surpassed Gabe Halleus ’92 to become the all-time winningest goaltender in Hobart hockey history.

After suffering a 6-5 loss at home to the Statesmen (14-8-2, 4-4-1 ECAC) a week ago, Elmira came out of the gates fast, taking a 1-0 lead just 57 seconds into the game on a Brandon Rose (Sudbury, Ontario) goal. After that initial defensive lapse Hobart picked up its play, rattling off five unanswered goals in the first two periods.

Opening scoring for the Statesmen 8:01 into the first session was first-year Will Bodine (North Massapequa, N.Y.) off an assist from sophomore Craig Levey (Mississauga, Ontario). Five minutes later first-year Colby McVey (Chicago, Ill.) broke loose on an Elmira (13-7-2, 3-3-1) power play to notch an unassisted short-handed goal putting Hobart ahead 2-1. Junior R.C. Schmidt (Buxton, Maine) added a power-play goal at the end of the first stanza, giving the Statesmen a comfortable two-goal edge.

Hobart never looked back, breaking the game wide open in the first five minutes of the second period with two more scores. Levey netted his 6th power-play goal of the year four minutes in, while Edward Poirier (Methuen, Mass.) netted his 10th score of the season on minute later to put the game out of reach of the Soaring Eagles at 5-1.

Elmira would receive a goal from Lawne Snyder (Toronto, Ontario) in the second period and on more from Jarrett Konkle (Milton, Ontario) in the third but the Eagles were unable to bounce back from their four-goal deficit.

Hobart played outstanding defense, killing all eight of Elmira’s extra-man opportunities and scoring a goal on one of those. The Statesmen were 2-4 on their power-play chances.

Having beaten the Soaring Eagles just once before this season, Hobart upset Elmira in both meetings this year, giving the Statesmen a 4-5 record against ranked opponents in 2002-03.

In goal for Elmira Greg Fargo (Kingston, Ontario) and Ben Sadler (Indiana, Pa.) combined for 23 saves this evening.

Hobart returns to the ice on Feb. 28, when it travels to RIT. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.