Hobart's men's lacrosse team began the 1990s the way it ended the 1980s-by winning another Division III championship.

The Statesmen posted an 18-6 victory over Washington (Maryland) May 19 for its 11 th straight title, but the first under coach B. J. O'Hara, who took the reins of the program when Dave Urick moved to Georgetown. Hobart remained the only team to win the Division III crown.

Washington (Maryland) has been runner-up five times.

"This is about athletes, not coaches with magic formulas," said O'Hara, who previously was a player and an assistant coach at Hobart. "Contrary to what people think, (the streak) hasn't been a curse. It's really a positive thing in a number of ways, and it was a great opportunity to be involved with a group of guys like this."

Sophomore attackman Jeff Tambroni was involved in eight of the Statesmen's first nine goals, including all four second-period scores, and ended the day with five goals and three assists. Senior midfielder Mike DeMaria had four goals.

Kurt Drury put Hobart on the board first at the I:41 mark, with an assist by Tambroni. Dave Slomkowski, the Shoremen goalie, had given Hobart all it could handle in the teams' regular-season meeting and was keeping the Statesmen in check in the early going.

"Slomkowski is real quick, has real good hands and he's been hot," Hobart midfielder Matt Kerwick said. "He doesn't get down on himself."

"I thought about our early chances and Slomkowski coming up big," O'Hara said. "Was he going to put on another clinic?"

Hobart had a 4-2 edge after the first period, and Tambroni scored the first goal of the second period with an assist from Bill Miller. Ben Lamanna and Geoff Hall scored for Washington (Maryland) to cut the margin to one at the 6:41 mark. Tambroni sandwiched unassisted goals around an assist on a goal by DeMaria to give the Statesmen an 8-4 lead at the half.

Hobart then ran off four straight goals, including two by DeMaria, in the third period.

"We ran into a buzzsaw," Washington coach Terry Corcoran, a Hobart alumnus, said. "They played a flawless game, offensively and defensively."