March 22, 2005

Nate Hill

Daryl Veltman

GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart lacrosse team continued to climb the Division I polls this week. The Statesmen bounced up two spots to No. 14 in the USILA Geico/STX Coaches Poll, and to No. 13 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, up three places from a week ago.

Hobart (4-1) opened the season with four consecutive wins for the first time since 1998, before falling to fifth-ranked Georgetown on March 19, 11-9. The Statesmen attack, which is second in the ECAC Lacrosse League in scoring (10.8 gpg), is led by senior Nate Hill (Hamburg/Hamburg, N.Y.) and first-year Daryl Veltman (Salisbury School/Georgetown, Ontario). Both players were named to the League’s Weekly Honor Roll.

Hill scored a team best 10 points last week. He started the week with a career-high six assists in a 15-10 win at Robert Morris. Four days later against the Hoyas, he scored two goals and two assists. Hill’s eight-assist week raised his career total to 70, moving him up four places on Hobart’s career assists list to No. 11. No other Division I Statesman has recorded more career assists.

Veltman raised his team-leading scoring total to 15 points with four goals and two assists. He connected on his third consecutive hat trick at Robert Morris, completing the feat before the contest was six minutes old. Against Georgetown, Veltman had a hand in each of Hobart’s first three goals, scoring one and assisting on the other two. He has scored at least a point in every game and at least three points in each of the past four games.

Hobart is back in action at noon, on March 26, when the Statesmen host No. 16 Rutgers on McCooey Field. The Scarlet Knights are 2-2 and visiting Geneva for the first time since 1999, a 17-12 triumph for the Statesmen.