March 15, 2003

EASTON, Pa.—The Hobart lacrosse team turned in a near-perfect first half and rolled past host Lafayette 16-7 in a Patriot League match up at Rappolt Field. First-year Mike Conklin led all scorers with four goals and an assist.

The Statesmen’s defense, led by senior goalie Mike Borsz, negated the Leopards’ attack. Borsz played the opening 30 minutes, posting nine saves, including at least three from point-blank-range, without allowing a goal.

Meanwhile, Hobart’s offense posted four scores in the opening 15, including a pair of goals by senior John Bogosian. The Statesmen (3-1, 2-0 PL) began to fire on all cylinders in the second stanza.

Bogosian kick started a seven-goal quarter for Hobart with his third of the game and team-leading 12th of the season. Senior Kris Shore, junior Geoff Zbikowski, senior Tim Booth, and junior Mark Williamson followed with single tallies to balloon the Statesmen’s lead to 9-0 with 3:26 remaining in the first half.

Conklin scored twice—just 11 seconds apart—in the final two minutes to send Hobart into halftime with an 11-0 lead.

Lafayette (0-4, 0-1 PL) finally broke through the Statesmen defense in the second half as the Hobart coaching staff began to empty the bench. In fact, the Leopards scored six of the first seven goals of the second half to creep to within six, 12-6, with 9:47 remaining in the game. Pat Lennon led the Leopards in scoring with four goals.

The Statesmen dashed any hopes of a comeback with four of the final five goals, including a nifty move on a shorthanded goal by sophomore Nate Hill. With two defenders in front of him, Hill ran between the pair, taking his crosse over the head of one of the Leopards and leaving both checking the air. Two steps later, he beat Michael Koch from the edge of the crease.

Hobart completely dominated the contest, outshooting Lafayette 49-37, and boasting a 35-28 advantage on ground balls. The Statesmen were perfect on clears, converting all 23 of their attempts, while limiting the Leopards to 20-of-30 clears.

Booth and sophomore Blake Reardon controlled the faceoffs. Booth won 9-of-14 restarts, while Reardon was 7-of-11. Both players picked up a game-high five ground balls.

The one area in which Hobart struggled was penalties. The Statesmen were flagged just once in the first half for 30 seconds, but got tagged for 10 penalties after the break for 8 minutes, 30 seconds. Despite playing so much man-down, Hobart limited the Leopards to just one extra-man goal on 11 tries.

In goal, Dan Valente finished with 10 saves in the second half for the Statesmen, while Kevin DeVito and Koch combined for 14 saves for Lafayette.

Hobart returns home for its next contest, hosting Lehigh in another Patriot League game on March 22. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., at the AstroTurf Stadium.