Box Score The 11th-ranked Hobart College hockey team fell to fourth-ranked Elmira 4-3 tonight in The Cooler. The Statesmen drop to 6-3-0 overall and 2-2-0 in the ECAC West, while the Soaring Eagles improve to 6-2-0 on the season and 4-0-0 in the league.

Hobart senior Jason Merritt (Chapel Hill, N.C.) opened the scoring late in the first period. He tallied the unassisted power play goal 19 minutes, 42 seconds into the contest while Hobart held a two-man advantage.

Elmira answered with three goals in the second period. Rusty Masters finished a play started by Karl Linden at the 4:06 mark, evening the game at 1-all. That was followed by Linden setting up Dave McKenna two minutes later for another tally. Both were power play goals. Rounding out the Soaring Eagles' scoring in the period was Masters setting up Albert Mitchell for a breakaway in the 10th minute.

Sophomore Matt Wallace (Skaneateles, N.Y.) had an answer to the Soaring Eagle's first goal of the second stanza, and briefly gave Hobart back its lead. At 5:49 he scored on a breakaway, despite Elmira holding a two-man advantage.

In the third period, the Soaring Eagles needed less than four minutes to increase their lead to 4-2. This time it was McKenna who found Masters for the eventual game-winner.

The Statesmen made one last push, adding an extra attacker and pulling senior goalie Keith Longo (Milford, Mass.) with 1:29 on the clock. Hobart was able to put one more tally on the board, as sophomore Pat Moriarty (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) set up senior Michael Steiner (Shaker Heights, Ohio) with 14 seconds remaining, but would come up short.

Elmira was 3-for-8 on power play opportunities, while the Statesmen went 2-for-8.

Longo finished with 34 saves for Hobart. Soaring Eagle goalie Casey Tuttle collected 18.

The Statesmen will be back in action at The Cooler tomorrow, Nov. 22, when they host Curry for a non-league game at 7 p.m. Fans unable to make it to the game can follow along online with live stats.