GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College lacrosse team controlled the faceoff X and won the battle for ground balls on the way to a 12-6 non-conference win over Binghamton University on Boswell Field this afternoon.
 
The Bearcats entered the game fifth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.675), but the Statesmen (2-2) won 14-of-21 faceoffs and had a 31-23 advantage on ground balls. First-year faceoff specialist Matthew Pedicine was 12-of-17 at the X with two ground balls and sophomore J. Andrew Spallanzani was 2-of-4 with a ground ball. They were helped by the strong wing play of sophomore William Locke (4 GBs), sophomore Henry Mann (1 GB), senior Teddy Sisco (2 GBs), senior Cooper Stefaniak (2 GBs), and sophomore Christopher Willman (5 GBs).
 
"We had some great ground ball play [from the wings]," Head Coach Greg Raymond said. "That was a team effort. The faceoffs were the main thing. The fact that Matt could slow their guy up and our wings could pick up those contested ground balls and get the ball to the right place. That was a big factor."
 
On the offensive end of the field, junior attackman Frank Brown logged a career-high five points on a career-high matching four goals and an assist. Junior midfielder Max Romm scored the final two goals of the second quarter to send the team's into halftime tied at four and then scored again in the middle of a five-goal Hobart run in the third quarter for his first career hat trick. Stefaniak added a goal and an assist.
 
Junior goalie Jackson Brown made seven saves to earn the win.
 
Binghamton got a team-high four points (2-2) from sophomore attackman Sean Gilroy while senior midfielder Zach Scaduto chipped in three goals. Gilroy shared team-high honors with two other teammates with three ground balls. Junior Tanner Cosens made nine saves for the Bearcats.
 
Senior midfielder Gavin Llewellyn staked Hobart to an early lead, scoring on a bounce shot just 41 seconds into the game. Brown set up first-year attackman Chris Aslanian midway through the opening frame to make it 2-0. Gilroy got one back for the visitors inside of the two-minute mark for a 2-1 score heading to the second quarter.
 
The Bearcats (0-3) came alive in the second, rattling off three straight to start the stanza, including back-to-back tallies by Scaduto. Facing a 4-2 deficit with under three minute remaining in the half, Romm scored his first unassisted, unleashing a laser from 20 yards out. He tied the game in the final minute of play, shaking his defender with a spin move and scoring on a 7-yard shot.
 
The teams traded goals to start the second half, but then the Statesmen found their groove. Stefaniak, Romm, and Sisco scored in succession in a span of 51 seconds for an 8-5 lead. Brown capped the third quarter scoring and opened the fourth to make it a 10-5 game.
 
Scaduto finished a feed from Gilroy to stop Hobart's run and get the Bearcats within four, but they got no closer. Brown fired home his 10th and 11th goals of the season to cap the day's scoring.
 
The Statesmen will be home again on Tuesday, March 8, when they host Colgate at 4 p.m. Binghamton will begin a three-game homestand on Saturday, March 12 when they play Delaware.