March 20, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Facing a three-goal deficit early in the third quarter, Hobart scored three unanswered goals against sixth-ranked Georgetown to tie the contest early in the fourth quarter, but the Hoyas used a pair of late tallies to escape with a 9-7 victory at Harbin Field. Statesmen junior goalie Dan Valente was superb in the face of the Georgetown attack, recording a career-high 19 saves.

Meeting for the 10th time, the two schools trade a pair of goals in the opening quarter, before the Hoyas (4-1) used a three-goal surge spanning the first and second frames to build a 5-2 lead.

The team's once again traded a pair of goals from midway through the second quarter to the 13:18 mark of the third, leaving Georgetown a 7-4 advantage.

Enter first-year Chris David. The native of nearby Silver Springs, Md., and a graduate of Georgetown Prep netted his first collegiate goal at the 7:49 mark of the third to spark the Statesmen's ill-fated comeback. He struck again just 30 seconds later to pull Hobart (2-3) within one. Sophomore Mike Conklin erased that deficit at the 10:08 mark of the final frame.

The Hoyas called on Walid Hajj for the game-winner at the 8:23 mark and the senior set up an insurance goal 1:28 later.

Valente was in the zone all afternoon, slamming the door on several point-blank attempts by the Hoyas, while improving his season numbers to an impressive .629 save percentage and a 7.76 goals against average.

The Statesmen will play their first home game of the season at 1 p.m., on March 27, on McCooey Field when Patriot League rival Lafayette visits Geneva.