May 12, 2002

NEWARK, Del.—The Hobart College lacrosse team held a 6-5 lead midway through the second quarter of its NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament first round game against Duke University at Delaware Stadium. It was all Blue Devils from that point on.

Duke scored 17 unanswered goals to send the Statesmen (6-8) to a 22-5 defeat, Hobart’s worst postseason loss in the program’s 100 seasons. The defeat topped the Statesmen’s previous journey into the NCAA in 2000, a 13-1 loss to Duke.

Things got off to a promising start for Hobart, when junior attackman John Bogosian (Kent School/Massena, N.Y.) fired home the game’s first goal on a man-up opportunity, assisted by junior attackman Dave Occhialini (Avon Old Farms/Cheshire, Conn.).

The Blue Devils (8-6) responded with three straight goals in less than two minutes to build a 3-1 lead with 8:47 remaining in the opening frame.

The Class of 2005 pulled Hobart even by the 5:03 mark on tallies by attackman Nate Hill (Hamburg/Hamburg, N.Y.) and midfielder Sean Reed (Waterloo/Waterloo, N.Y.). Duke scored twice before the end of the first quarter to take 5-3 lead.

The Statesmen began the second quarter on fire. Junior midfielder Tim Booth (Waterloo/Waterloo, N.Y.) got things started, burying a feed from senior Scott Harvey (Sufern/Cornwall, N.Y.) just 15 seconds in. Senior David Spratlen (Colorado Academy/Littleton, Colo.) knotted the game at five with his 12th goal of the season three minutes later, and Bogosian put Hobart back in front with his 29th goal of the season at the 11:37 mark.

The Blue Devils rattled off six unanswered goals to close out the half with an 11-6 advantage, and pumped in five and six goals in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to finish off Hobart.

Bogosian, who missed the entire second half due to injury, finished with two goals to raise his season point total to a team best 37, while Harvey added a pair of assists.

While obviously disappointed with the result of the afternoon’s game, first-year Head Coach Matt Kerwick put a positive spin on the season as a whole.

“It was a great accomplishment for our guys,” Kerwick said. “We were picked third in the Patriot League, but we were very fortunate to have a great bunch of young guys who learned and accomplished a lot.”

Junior Mike Borsz (West Genesee/Camillus, N.Y.) and first-year Dan Valente (Mount Hebron/Ellicott City, Md.) combined for seven saves.