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Silberlecht, Kirk carry Statesmen past No. 17 Stags
March 31, 2007
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Jamie Kirk |
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Max Silberlicht |
GENEVA, N.Y.—First-year goalie Max Silberlicht (New Hartford/New Hartford, N.Y.) recorded 17 stops in his first collegiate start to lead Hobart College to a thrilling 11-10 victory over 17th-ranked Fairfield College in ECAC Lacrosse League action. None was more important than his smothering stop on Greg Downing’s shot as time expired.
In conjunction with Silberlicht’s tremendous defensive effort, junior attackman Jamie Kirk (Salisbury School/Orangeville, Ontario) recorded six points to lead the offense. He registered a pair of goals and dished out four assists to raise his season total to 28, the most in a single season by a Division I Statesman. Nate Hill ’05 held the previous benchmark (26 in 2004).
For the second consecutive game, both junior attackman Daryl Veltman (Salisbury School/Georgetown, Ontario) and senior midfielder Chris David (Georgetown Prep/Silver Spring, Md.) notched hat tricks. Sophomore attackman Jeff Coburn (CNS/Liverpool, N.Y.) recorded a goal and an assist, while junior midfielder Nick Currie (Corning East/Corning, N.Y.) added a pair of helpers for the Statesmen (4-4, 1-2 ECAC).
Junior attackman Travis Nelson (Oswego/Oswego, N.Y.) and senior midfielder Greg Downing (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) lead the Stags (5-2, 1-2) with four points a piece. Nelson recorded three goals and assist, while Downing netted a goal and three assists. Conspicuously absent from the scoring column was senior attackman Michael Bocklet (John Jay/Katonah, N.Y.), who had scored at least a point in 19 consecutive games before coming to Geneva.
By the 3:57 mark of the second quarter, Hobart built a 6-3 lead, thanks in part to extra-man goals by Veltman and senior midfielder James Dussich (Manhasset/Manhasset, N.Y.).
Fairfield junior attackman Casey Martin (Fayetteville-Manlius/Manlius, N.Y.) scored the final goal of the first half to send the Stags into the break down two.
The visitors carried that momentum into the third quarter, scoring three straight to seize their only lead of the day, 7-6, midway through the frame. Hobart struck twice before the end of the stanza on goals by David and Veltman to regain the lead.
Fairfield forged the final tie with the first goal of the fourth quarter off the stick of Nelson, but just over a minute later, senior midfielder Sean Murphy (Bishop Timon-St. Jude/Buffalo, N.Y.) collected a ground ball in the defensive end, raced through the midfield and shot as he was dragged to the turf by a defenseman for his seventh goal of the season. His tally was followed by both of Kirk’s goals giving the Statesmen an 11-8 lead.
Downing assisted on and scored Fairfield’s final two goals in a last ditch effort to avoid a second straight loss, but Silberlecht posted three of his nine fourth quarter saves in the final two minutes to preserve the win.
In goal for the Stags, senior Michael Kruger (Calvert Hall College/Ellicott City, Md.) finished the day with seven stops.
Hobart is back in action at 1 p.m. on April 7, when the Statesmen travel to Penn State. Fairfield’s next game is at Georgetown at 1 p.m. on April 7.