Box Score GENEVA, N.Y.—The seventh-ranked Hobart College hockey team defeated 15th-ranked Neumann College 3-2 in the first round of the ECAC West Tournament tonight at The Cooler. With the win, the Statesmen improve to 18-6-2 overall and advance to the semifinal round, while the Knights fall to 17-9-0 on the season.

Sophomore Statesmen Bobby Cahill (Farmington Hills, Mich.) started the scoring 7 minutes, 29 seconds into the game. He was assisted by sophomore Aleksey Koval (Kiev, Ukraine) and junior Bryant Harris (Plainfield, N.H.).

The Knights answered less than two minutes later, thanks to Mark Van Vliet (Dorchester, Ontario) finding Neil Trimm (Westmeath, Ontario) for the power-play tally at 9:07.

Hobart broke the 1-1 tie midway through the second stanza, on a power-play goal from sophomore Blake Bonham (Toronto, Ontario), who tipped in a shot by sophomore Jordan Zitoun (Irving, Texas) at 12:44. Harris also recorded an assist on the play.

The first 19 minutes of the third period went by scoreless, with the Statesmen holding a 2-1 lead. Neumann pulled its goaltender, Mike Collichio (Rochester, N.Y.), with 1:30 left on the clock in a last-ditch effort to tie the game. Hobart first-year Tom Capalbo (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) spoiled the Knight’s chances to do just that with an empty net goal with 42 seconds left to play. Capalbo’s third goal of the season would prove to be the game-winner, as Neumann’s Kyle Casey (Stratford, Ontario) scored with eight ticks on the clock, making the final score 3-2.

The teams were evenly matched, with Hobart holding a slight 35-33 advantage in shots. The Statesmen capitalized on 1-of-5 power-play chances, while the Knights were 1-for-4.

Junior Statesmen goalkeeper Keith Longo (Hopedale, Mass.) picked up 31 saves en route to his program record-tying 14th win of the season, while Collichio finished with 32 saves.

Hobart will be in action again this Saturday, March 1, when it travels to top-seeded and third-ranked Elmira for the ECAC West Tournament semifinal round at 7 p.m.