FAIRFIELD, Conn.—A balanced attack and a stifling defense carried the Hobart College lacrosse team to its third straight victory this afternoon, a 13-5 NEC win at Sacred Heart University. The Statesmen improved to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in the Northeast Conference.
 
Four different players for Hobart finished the day with three points. Senior attackman Alex Love posted his third consecutive hat trick, the 24th of his career, to lead all scorers. Senior midfielders Taylor Vanderbeek and Brendan Saylor each contributed two goals and an assist. Sophomore attackman Sean Donnelly handed out a career-high three assists. The Statesmen were outshot 35-32, but were more accurate than their hosts, holding a 23-19 edge in shots on goal.
 
Defensively, sophomore goalie Jackson Brown made 12 saves in 56:25 of work to earn the win. He also picked up a team-high five ground balls. First-year Chre Teitelbaum recorded two stops in the final 3:35. First-year defenseman D. Bennett Moore and Donnelly shared team-high honors with two caused turnovers. Hobart pressured Sacred Heart into 20 turnovers while committing just 11.
 
Ian Farley was the only Pioneer (4-5, 1-2) to register more than one point on the day, finishing with a goal and an assist. Mike Cavagna led SHU to a 17-5 advantage on faceoffs, winning 15-of-19 and grabbing a game-high 11 ground balls. Starting goalie Jon Flood made nine saves on 20 shots in 56:28, while William Crepeault had one save in relief.
 
Hobart jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Love, sophomore Gavin Llewellyn, and sophomore Sean Cunningham. Farley netted his goal with 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter to make it a 3-1 game. It was the first time this season that the Statesmen led by more than one goal after 15 minutes.
 
Saylor gave Hobart a 4-1 lead early in the second quarter, but the Pioneers scored an extra-man goal followed by an even-strength tally to get within one with 6:55 left in the half. Junior Cooper Stefaniak and Vanderbeek sandwiched goals around an SHU strike to close the first half scoring and send the Statesmen into the break with a 6-4 lead.
 
The Hobart defense turned up the pressure in the second half, limiting the home team to just three shots on goal in the third quarter and just five in the fourth quarter. On the offensive end, sophomore Tanner John, Love, and sophomore Max Romm hit the back of the next to stretch Hobart's advantage to 9-4 after 45 minutes of play.
 
Love tallied his team-leading 19th goal of the season to open the fourth quarter followed by strikes from Saylor and Vanderbeek to give the Statesmen seven consecutive goals and a 12-4 lead with 3:04 remaining. The SHU scoring drought lasted 32 minutes before the Pioneers broke up the run. Nineteen seconds later, Hobart first-year Henry Mann got his first collegiate goal with 72 seconds left to complete the day's scoring.
 
Love raised his career goal total to 126, passing Ray Gilliam '87 on Hobart's all-time list into 11th place. Love is now five behind No. 10 Larry Adkinson '62. Love also upped his career point total to 153, nine behind Daryl Veltman's Hobart record for a Division I Statesman.
 
Hobart returns to Geneva to host Wagner College (4-5, 1-1) on Saturday, April 11. The opening faceoff at Boswell Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.