Elmira Falls to Hobart in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday

Box Score

GENEVA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men’s ice hockey program had its season come to an end on Saturday evening with a 4-2 loss in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to the Statesmen from Hobart College. After the Statesmen gained an early 2-0 advantage in the first period, the Soaring Eagles skated even with the host squad for the remainder of the game but fell just short. 

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: No. 10 Elmira 2, No. 7 Hobart 3 
LOCATION: Geneva, New York | The Cooler
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (18-7-2, 11-4-2 NEHC), Hobart (20-5-2, 13-2-2 NEHC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Statesmen came out with a physical style of play through the first seven minutes of play, controlling the pace of play on the offensive end before notching a goal at the 7:50 mark in the opening period on Hobart’s 7th shot on net in the early going. On the goal, Brendan Howell recorded an assist. 

From there, the Statesmen continued to apply pressure, with the Soaring Eagles able to produce just three shots on net over the first 13 minutes of play. With just 6:39 remaining in the opening period, the Statesmen were able to score once again as Zach Tyson scored on the right side of the net, a one-on-one opportunity with Elmira goaltender Chris Janzen ’21 after a feed from Coffey. Artem Buzoveyra was also credited with an assist on the score. 

The Soaring Eagles saw its first opportunity of the evening after drawing a hooking penalty at the 3:33 mark. The Soaring Eagles came up empty while nearing the end of the penalty, both teams drew coincidental penalties for roughing. The period ended with the Statesmen holding on to a 2-0 lead. 

In the second, it took the Statesmen just 39 seconds to crack the board once again, as Luke Aquara scored on an assist from Kevin Lassman from just in front of the net to put Hobart up 3-0. Shortly after, Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 drew his second penalty of the evening on a cross-checking call, which the Soaring Eagles were able to fend off. 

At the 6:57 mark in the second, the Soaring Eagles got into the scorer’s column on a short-handed goal from Christian Abrams ’25, unassisted before the Hobart answered back just under two minutes later to extend its lead to 4-1 on a puck that seemed to get lost between the Soaring Eagles defense. On the ensuing puck drop, the Soaring Eagles took it down and scored just 23 seconds after Hobart’s goal, as Shawn Kennedy ’24 scored on an assist from Adam Eby ’22 to trim the deficit to two goals once again. 

In the third, each team was able to lock in defensively and no offense was needed for the Statesmen, who skated away with a 4-2 victory.