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Midshipmen
stage comeback, foil Hobart's fast start
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Pat Meade works against a Navy |
March 16, 2004
ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Hobart scored four of the game's first five goals in its
first Patriot League meeting with Navy, and held a 6-5 edge at halftime,
but the ninth-ranked Midshipmen battled back to take a 13-8 victory at
soggy Navy-Marine Corps Stadium. Senior Mark Williamson led the Statesmen
with a four-point effort on two goals and two assists.
Playing in a steady, cold rain, sophomore Mike Conklin needed less than two minutes to give Hobart (2-2, 2-1) a 1-0 lead, finishing a feed from junior Nate Molinari. Two minutes later, senior Brian Joy fired home his fifth goal of the season to double the Statesmen lead.
Navy (4-1, 3-0) got on the board less than 20 seconds later, but Hobart responded with back-to-back tallies to take a 4-1 lead at the 6:46 mark of the first quarter. Joy started the spree with a frozen rope to the upper right corner of the cage on a man-up opportunity, while junior Chris Scanlon added an even strength marker four minutes later. Williamson earned the assist on both scores.
Navy closed out the first quarter scoring with 75 seconds remaining to pull to within three.
The second quarter started slow, but Williamson finally kick started the scoring at the 7:33 mark with Hobart's second extra-man goal.
The score served as a wake-up call to the Midshipmen, who tied the game with three straight goals in little more than two minutes.
Williamson registered the final goal of the first half at the 1:47 mark to send the Statesmen into the locker room with a 6-5 lead.
Navy scored twice to open the third quarter to take its first lead of the game, before Nate Molinari scored to forge the final tie of the afternoon at 7-all with 10:21 to go in the third.
The rest of the game belong to the Midshipmen, as they scored three unanswered and six of the final seven goals of the contest.
Junior Dan Valente made 10 saves for Hobart, while Matt Russell turned away nine shots for Navy.
The Statesmen will close out their five-game, season-opening road trip at sixth-ranked Georgetown at 2 p.m., on March 20.