October 24, 2006

GENEVA, N.Y.—After an exceptional showing in Liberty League regular season play, the Hobart College soccer team has secured the second seed in the league’s postseason tournament. The Statesmen closed out their Liberty League schedule last weekend as the only team unbeaten (5-0-2) in the conference. They hold a 12-2-2 overall record with one game left to play in the regular season, and are looking to earn their second-ever NCAA Tournament bid.

The tournament will be held Nov. 3-4 on the campus of No. 1 seeded Hamilton (10-2-1, 6-1-0). All games will be played on Love Field. In the semifinal round on Friday, Hamilton will take on fourth-seeded Skidmore (13-3-1, 4-2-1) at 11 a.m., followed by Hobart taking on third-seeded St. Lawrence (8-4-2, 4-2-1) at 1:30 p.m. The winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday at noon.

The Statesmen, who recorded their best start since the 1992 team won 15 straight games, has not made a Liberty League Tournament appearance since 2003 when they lost to St. Lawrence in the championship game 1-0 in double-overtime. The Saints have won the league title each of the past four years. This year also marks the highest finish in the Liberty League standings for Hobart since the conference was formed in 1995.

Sophomore Dan Riso (Red Hook Central/Red Hook, N.Y.) leads the Statesmen with six goals and three assists this season, while classmate Philipp Schoeniger (Erlangen/Erlangen, Germany) (4 goals, 1 assist), senior Tucker Crockett (Rosemont, Pa./Episcopal Academy) (3 goals, 1 assist), sophomore Matt Schwartz (Lower Merion/Wynnewood, Pa.) (3 goals, 1 assist), and junior Tyler Webster (Acton-Boxboro/Acton, Mass.) (2 goals, 3 assists) have all been offensive threats as well.

Senior Jamie Smith (Cheshire/Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore goalkeepers Pete Van Dellon (Webster Thomas/Webster, N.Y.) (7-0-2) and Phil DaCosta (Manchester Memorial/Manchester, N.H.) (5-2-0) have anchored a solid Hobart defense that has allowed just 10 goals in 16 games. Van Dellon has six shutouts and leads the league in goals against average (0.32) and saves percentage (.939).

The Statesmen, ranked ninth in the nation and first in the Northeast Region by this week’s NSCAA poll, will close out their regular season at Fredonia on Oct. 28. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.