GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College lacrosse team lost its regular season finale this afternoon on Boswell Field to 10th-ranked Cornell University in a non-conference game by a score of 10-6. The loss severely hampers the Statesmen’s hopes for the Patriot League automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while the Big Red improved their positioning for an at-large bid.

Hobart (6-7) finished its Patriot League slate with a 5-1 record, tied with Army (8-6) and Bucknell (6-7). The League’s tiebreak procedure comes down to the NCAA RPI rating, and while the Black Knights strength of schedule isn’t as strong as the Statesmen’s, Army is two games better in the win column and one in the loss column.

Hobart opened the afternoon’s scoring when junior midfielder Tim Booth (Waterloo/Waterloo, N.Y.) won the opening faceoff and 43 seconds later buried a feed from senior attackman Scott Harvey (Suffern/Cornwall, N.Y.). In addition to his 14th goal of the season, Booth won 12-of-19 faceoffs and picked up a team-high five ground balls.

Cornell (10-3) evened the contest less than three minutes later on a goal by junior midfielder J.P. Schalk (Fayetteville-Manlius/Jamesville, N.Y.). The Big Red took a 2-1 lead into the second frame on an extra-man goal at the two-minute mark by senior midfielder Galen Beers (Kent County/Darlington, Md.) set up by first-year midfielder Justin Redd (Gilman School/Towson, Md.).

The second quarter proved to be the deciding factor in the game. Cornell scored four unanswered in the frame, including a pair of tallies by sophomore midfielder Andrew Collins (Yorktown/Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) to build a 6-1 halftime lead.

Things could have been worse for the Statesmen in the opening half if not for the strong play of junior goalie Mike Borsz (West Genesee/Camillus, N.Y.). He recorded eight of his 11 saves in the opening 30 minutes.

Junior defenseman Ryan McClay (Mahopac/Mahopac, N.Y.) and Schalk pushed the Big Red’s run to 8-0 with goals less than five minutes into the second half, building an 8-1 advantage.

Hobart broke out of its offensive slumber with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter. Junior attackman John Bogosian (Kent School/Massena, N.Y.) stuffed home a pass on the crease from Harvey. First-year midfielder Chris Scanlon (Corning West/Painted Post, N.Y.) and Bogosian tallied 61 seconds apart to cut their deficit to four, 8-4, with 2:25 remaining in the third.

Cornell pushed its lead back to five when Redd scored 57 seconds before the end of the frame. The Big Red put things out of reach with its 10th goal at the 5:29 mark off the long stick of McClay.

Bogosian and senior attackman David Spratlen (Colorado Academy/Littleton, Colo.) added Hobart goals in the final three minutes to close out the afternoon’s scoring. Bogosian led all scorers with three goals and an assist.

“I think the effort was there this afternoon, but we didn’t execute at times, especially during the second quarter, and Cornell took advantage of that,” Head Coach Matt Kerwick said.