March 6, 2004

WORCESTER, Mass.—The Statesmen rattled off eight unanswered goals to upend Holy Cross 14-6 in Hobart’s Patriot League opener. The Crusaders got on board first, but seven different Statesmen tallied the next eight scores to give Hobart its fourth straight win over Holy Cross. Senior Mark Williamson led all scorers with two goals and three assists.

Rookie Rory Melvin got things started for Hobart (1-1, 1-0 PL) with 5:29 left in the first quarter on an unassisted score to tie the game. Williamson gave the Statesmen the lead for good less than two minutes later, firing home his shot for a 2-1 lead. Melvin closed out the opening session with his second goal of the game to put Hobart ahead 3-1 after the first 15 minutes.

The Statesmen came out on fire in the second quarter notching five more unanswered, including three in a matter of 1:26. Junior Chris Scanlon opened the second frame scoring with an unassisted tally 1:07 into the quarter. Just 52 seconds later junior Nate Hill took advantage of a Holy Cross penalty to score a man-up goal.

Sophomore Billy Klotz scored the Crusaders’ lone goal in the second period with 8:13 left to play. He and Paul LeBlanc led the team with two goals apiece.

Williamson rounded out the first half scoring 43 seconds later with his fifth goal of the season, putting the Statesmen up 9-2 at the break.

Holding a seven goal cushion, Hobart maintained that lead in the second half and put five more points on the scoreboard before the final whistle, including two from sophomore Patrick Meade.

The Statesmen outshot Holy Cross 42-31 and picked up 34 ground balls to the Crusaders’ 22.

In the cage, junior Dan Valente earned the victory with 5 saves, while sophomore Mike DeSantis made six stops in 30 minutes of action. Brian Hodgdon had 18 saves for Holy Cross.