GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College hockey team advanced to the NEHC Tournament semifinals with an 8-0 victory over the University of Southern Maine tonight in The Cooler. With the tournament quarterfinal win, the Statesmen extended their unbeaten streak to nine games and improve to 16-5-5 this season.
The No. 7 seed in the tournament, USM finished its season with a 3-19-4 overall record. Hobart is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 9 in the nation. The Statesmen will host a semifinal game against No. 3 seed Babson on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in The Cooler. The Beavers edged No. 6 seed Skidmore 3-2 in double OT in their quarterfinal tonight. No. 1 Norwich will host No. 4 UMass Boston in the other semifinal game on Feb. 24.
Senior Frank Oplinger stopped all 11 shots he faced to earn his second shutout this season and the sixth of his career. He ranks third on the Hobart career shutout list. Oplinger improved to 7-2-3 in goal this year. Sophomore Zach Sternbach and first-year Ryan Lynch each scored twice for the Statesmen. Senior Andrew Silard notched two assists and junior Matt Pizzo and sophomore Lawson MacDougall each posted a goal and an assist.
Hobart jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. First-year Travis Schneider passed to Pizzo who fired a shot that was tipped by Lynch into the goal to give the Statesmen a 1-0 lead 6:35 in. Pizzo logged a goal of his own at 12:40 on a shot from the point. Silard earned the assist.
The Statesmen added three more goals in the second period. Just 2:09 in, MacDougall notched a power-play goal after a pass from sophomore Colin Merrill. With 4:32 on the clock, Sternbach gave Hobart a 4-0 lead after he knocked in the puck that came bouncing from behind the goal. Just 23 seconds later, first-year Andrew Longo scored off a feed from senior Jordan Haskell from behind the goal. Silard also earned an assist on the play.
Hobart tallied three special teams goals in the third. At 2:48 in Lynch registered his second of the night, tipping in a blast by sophomore Julien Denicourt on the power-play. Senior Vincent Russo was also credited with an assist on the Statesmen’s sixth goal. Just over a minute later and again on the power play, sophomore Will Harrison pushed in a rebound after an initial shot from junior Jack Macnee was saved by the Huskies’ goaltender. At 10:14 into the final period, Sternbach logged his second of the night. This time it was a shorthanded tally, after a pass from MacDougall where Sternbach beat his defender for a one-on-one with the goaltender.
Anthony D’Aloisio made 28 saves in all 60 minutes in goal for Southern Maine. The Statesmen finished with a 36-11 advantage in shots. Hobart went 3-for-7 on the power play and killed all four of the Huskies power-play chances.
