GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College soccer team rallied from a two-goal first half deficit to defeat Bard College 3-2 at Cozzens Field this afternoon. The Statesmen picked up their fourth consecutive win to improve to 10-2-2 overall and 3-1-2 in the Liberty League, while the Raptors fall to 5-8-1, 0-6-0.
Hobart had a lopsided advantage in both shots (15-3) and corner kicks (14-1) for the match, but found itself in the unenviable position of climbing out of a 2-0 hole with less than 13 minutes elapsed in the match. Sophomore Nick Shenberger converted a pair of nearly identical breakaways to stake the visitors to the early lead.
On the first, sophomore John Flynn took the ball away from Hobart just outside of the box in the defensive zone, he fed sophomore Brendan Byrne who made a 30-yard vertical pass to spring Shenberger for a 1-on-1 with senior goalie
Tyler Serafine. The Canandaigua native got a piece of the ball, but it had enough pace to carry over the line for a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute. Less than five minutes later, it was Flynn's turn to play a long ball ahead for Shenberger, who this time left no doubt about the final destination of his strike. He leads the league with 13 goals this season.
Hobart's comeback started when junior
Clint Dunn entered the match in the 15th minute. Seven minutes later, the Statesmen earned a free kick on the attacking side of midfield. Senior
Tyler Terens' powerful strike was met by a perfectly timed run by Dunn, who headed home his first goal of the season.
Hobart equalized in the 42nd minute when first-year
Mitch Palmer played a drop pass to sophomore
Adrian Colmenares, who floated a 60-yard pass over the head of sophomore
Nick Dosky. Dosky played the ball off his chest to his feet and deposited a shot in the lower right corner for his first goal of the year.
The Statesmen kept the pressure on in the second half, outshooting the Raptors 8-1. Hobart kept its record perfect against Bard (5-0 all-time) thanks to the game's final goal in the 79th minute. Junior
Carl Weiss cleared the ball out of the defensive end. The ball landed just outside of the Bard keeper's box. A Raptor defender was caught off guard by a quickly closing Dunn and lost his feet. Senior Daniel Gagne came off his line to try to retrieve the loose ball, but Dunn dribbled around him and buried the shot on a wide-open goal.
Serafine made one second half save to earn his 10th win of the season. Gagne notched five stops to slip to 4-5-1 on the year.
Hobart is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 24, when the Statesmen visit Clarkson (4-8-2, 1-4-1). Bard also plays its next match next Saturday, hosting the College of Staten Island in a non-conference showdown.
