GENEVA, N.Y.—Sophomore goaltender Alexander Connal stopped all 21 shots he faced to secure his first collegiate shutout as the No. 11/13 Hobart College hockey team blanked New England College 2-0 in an NEHC game played tonight in The Cooler.
 
Sophomore Lawson MacDougall and senior Jordan Haskell scored for the Statesmen, who improve to 11-5-4 overall and 8-3-2 in conference play. It was Hobart's first shutout this season and first time the Statesmen have shut out an opponent since they downed Utica 5-0 in the ECAC West Tournament Championship game back on March 5, 2016. It's Hobart's second win this season over NEC. The Statesmen earned a 5-2 victory over the Pilgrims back on Nov. 4.
 
The Statesmen scored their first goal of the game with 3:17 left in the first period. Junior Jonas Toupal pushed a pass from deep in the right corner to find MacDougall out in front. He lifted his shot over the right shoulder of the Pilgrims' goaltender to give Hobart the 1-0 advantage. It was MacDougall's first goal this season.
 
Haskell extended the Statesmen lead to 2-0 with his eighth goal of the season coming just 5:16 into the second period. First-year Mike Faulkner sent a crossing pass that deflected off a Pilgrim skate and right to senior Ben Greiner. Greiner carried the puck into the zone and slid a pass across the front of the goal to Haskell who tapped the puck over the line.
 
New England College had its best scoring chances of the game late in the third period. With just under nine minutes to go, Charlie Spetz blasted a shot from the blue line. Sophomore Julien Denicourt was in the perfect position to block the shot and preserve the shutout for Hobart. The Pilgrims pulled their goalie with 2:12 left in the game for the extra skater, and the Statesmen took a penalty with 1:37 to go. NEC was unable to capitalize despite the 6-on-4 advantage. The Pilgrims did come close, however, when Nicholas Rein and Mike Whitehair fired back-to-back shots on goal that were both saved by Connal. One of the rebounds bounced loose in the crease, but the Statesmen got to it first to clear out the chance.
 
Hobart finished with a 41-21 advantage in shots. The Statesmen went 0-for-4 on the power play and killed all four of New England College's power play chances. Kyle Shapiro made 39 saves in 57:48 in goal for the Pilgrims.
 
The Statesmen are back in action tomorrow, Jan. 27, when they host Southern Maine for another NEHC game in The Cooler at 4 p.m.