March 5, 2005

First-year Daryl Veltman scored a game-high five points to lead Hobart past Binghamton in its home opener. (Photo by Ken DeBolt)

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College first-year Daryl Veltman (Salisbury/ Georgetown, Ontario) scored three goals and added two assists for a game-high five points to lead the 20th-ranked Statesmen to a 10-7 victory over Binghamton University this afternoon in lacrosse action on McCooey Field.

Hobart jumped all over the Bearcats in the early going, scoring twice in the opening 44 seconds. Senior Chris Scanlon (Corning West/ Painted Post, N.Y.) opened the scoring at the 14:32 mark, rifling a shot past Binghamton goaltender Kevin McKeown (Brewster/Brewster, N.Y.) for a man-up goal. Veltman made it a 2-0 game 16 seconds later off an assist from junior Matt Murphy (Haverford/Havertown, Pa.).

Senior Nate Hill (Hamburg/Hamburg, N.Y.) and sophomore Chris David (Georgetown Prep/Silver Springs, Md.) added a pair of unassisted tallies to later in the quarter make it 4-0 Hobart with seven minutes left in the first session.

Binghamton’s Sean Meluney (Cape Henlopen/Cape Henlopen, Del.) closed out the opening frame’s scoring, bouncing a shot past Hobart backstop Dan Valente (Mount Hebron/Ellicott City, Md.).

Hobart pushed its lead to five, 6-1, just 2:51 in the second quarter with goals from David and Veltman. That would be the Statesmen’s largest lead, as the Bearcats scored three unanswered over the course of the second stanza and the early minutes of the third.

Sophomore Matt McNamara (Oswego/Oswego, N.Y.) started Binghamton’s run with an unassisted score with 9:06 left in the second session, while junior Phil Cavallo (Lawrence/Cedarhurst, N.Y.) and Meluney added goals to pull the Bearcats within two, 6-4, with 10:33 left in the third quarter.

Cavallo and Meluney both finished the afternoon with two goals, while McNamara also added two points with a goal and an assist.

Less than a minute later Veltman sliced through the Binghamton defense somehow keeping the ball in his crosse for his third goal of the game and a three-goal advantage for Hobart, 7-4. Just 14 seconds later senior Sean Reed (Waterloo/Waterloo, N.Y.) notched what proved to be the game-winner off an assist from Murphy.

Trailing 9-4 heading into the final frame, the Bearcats scored three unanswered, but the Statesmen defense stopped any thoughts Binghamton had of a comeback, securing the 10-7 victory.

Sophomore John Soden (Delbarton/Chester, N.J.) was outstanding once again, winning 16-of-19 faceoffs, while Molinari picked up a team-high six ground balls. Hobart outshot the Bearcats 36-26 and held a 42-32 advantage in ground balls.

In the cage, Valente had 12 saves for the Statesmen, while McKeown had 19 stops for the Bearcats.

Hobart (2-0) returns to action on March 12, traveling to play Ohio State (1-2) at noon.