January 4, 2006

Mike Conklin

John Soden

GENEVA, N.Y.—Two players on the Hobart College lacrosse team have been named to the Inside Lacrosse and Face-off Yearbook Division I pre-season All-America list. Junior midfielder John Soden (Delbarton/Chester, N.J.) and sophomore attacker Daryl Veltman (Salisbury/Georgetown, Ontario) both received honorable mention praise.

Considered one of the top faceoff specialists in the nation, Soden completed the 2005 campaign ranked eighth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (60.5), controlling 178 of his 294 restarts. He also finished third on the Statesmen last season in ground balls (52), raising his career total to 125.

Veltman, Hobart’s offensive catalyst, led the Statesmen in scoring with 50 points, on 28 goals and 22 assists, becoming just the second player since the program moved to Division I in 1995 to record at least 50 points in a season. He tallied a season-high eight points (4-4) at Penn State and collected a season-best six ground balls at Canisius. The 2005 ECAC Rookie of the Year was ranked 16th in the nation in point per game (3.38), registering at least one point in every game.

Under the guidance of Head Coach Matt Kerwick ’90, Hobart will face a tough schedule, facing 10 teams in the pre-season top 25: No. 5 Syracuse, No. 6 Georgetown, No. 8 Cornell, No. 9 Massachusetts, No. 13 Penn State, No. 20 Fairfield, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 23 Loyola, No. 24 Rutgers, and opening the season against No. 25 Bucknell at 2 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the Haverford School.