The Hobart College lacrosse team captured the 2017 Northeast Conference regular season title with an 18-17 win over Robert Morris last Saturday, earning the right to host the NEC tournament on Boswell Field this week. The semifinals will take place on Thursday, May 4, with the championship game being held on Saturday, May 6.
 
The host Statesmen will take on No. 4 seed Sacred Heart in Thursday's first semifinal at 1 p.m. No. 2 seed Bryant will face No. 3 seed Robert Morris in the second semifinal at 4 p.m. The winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday at noon.
 
Hobart rattled off four consecutive NEC wins to complete the regular season with a 5-1 record in the conference. The Statesmen are 8-6 overall and 4-1 on Boswell Field this year. When Hobart and Sacred Heart met earlier this year, the Pioneers scored the only goal in the fourth quarter and emerged with an 8-7 victory in Fairfield, Conn.
 
Senior Frank Brown leads the team with 30 goals and 46 points while sophomore Chris Aslanian is right behind him with 44 points on 22 goals and a team-high 22 assists. First-year Justin Scott is second on the team with 27 goals, one shy of Hobart's Division I era record for goals by a first-year held by Daryl Veltman '09. The Statesmen are ranked 13th in the nation in scoring offense (12.29 gpg) and 15th in points per game (18.5). Hobart leads the NEC in both categories. Junior J Andrew Spallanzani has won 52.6 percent of his faceoffs and has a team-high 43 groundballs. Senior defenseman Arik Andreen sports a team-leading 20 caused turnovers and needs three to tie the Statesmen career record. In goal, Jackson Brown is 7-6 with a .507 save percentage and an 11.44 GAA.
 
Sacred Heart finished with a 4-2 NEC record and a 9-5 overall record. Joe Saggese leads Sacred Heart with 52 points and 20 assists and is second on the team with 32 goals. Bryce Jurk leads the team with 33 goals. Faceoff specialist Mike Calvagna has won 47 percent of his faceoffs. On the defensive end of the field, Ryan O'Donoghue has a team leading 41 caused turnovers and leads the nation averaging 3.14 caused turnovers per game. As a team, the Pioneers force 10.5 turnovers per game, No. 1 in country, and scoop up 31.36 groundballs per game, 12th in the country. Brooks Dutton has seen a majority of the minutes in the Sacred Heart goal. He is 8-4 on the year with a .498 save percentage and a 9.70 GAA.
 
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with an 8-7 overall record and a 4-2 record in conference play. Tucker James leads the team with 34 goals, 26 assists and 60 points. He leads the Northeast Conferene in all three categories. Bryant owns the country's fifth best man-up offense converting on 50 percent of its opportunities.  Ryan Sharpe has seven of the Bulldogs 20 extra –man goals and is second in the nation. Faceoff man Kenny Massa has won 58.2 percent of his attempts at the X this year and has a team best 99 groundballs. Massa is 16th in the nation in faceoff winning percentage and 15th in ground balls per game. James Werner has started every game in the Bryant goal and is 8-7 on the year with a .545 save percentage and an 8.17 GAA.
 
The Colonials bring a 9-6 overall record and a 4-2 mark in conference play to Boswell Field. Matt Schmidt leads the team with 32 goals and 40 points. Tyson Gibson is right behind him with 39 points on 17 goals and a team best 22 assists. Faceoff man Trey Arnold has a 45.4 success rate at the X this year. The Colonials rank fourth in the nation in caused turnovers per averaging 9.67 per game. Zac Christianson leads the way with 22. Alex Heger has played a majority of the minutes in goal for Robert Morris this year. He is 8-6 with a .564 save percentage and a 10.13 GAA. Heger leads the nation averaging 12.6 saves per game and has the country's seventh best save percentage.
 
Fans unable to make it to Boswell Field can follow the action online with Live Stats. NEC Front Row will webcast all three games this weekend.  Ted Baker's call of Thursday's Hobart-Sacred Heart game will be broadcast on 105.7 (WHWS-LP) in Geneva and streamed online on both WHWS and WEOS.