The Hobart College hockey team will look to repeat as New England Hockey Conference Tournament champions on Saturday, March 2, when it travels to Northfield, Vt., to take on Norwich. Faceoff at Kreitzberg Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Tickets for Saturday are $6 for adults, $3 for student and $3 for youth. Tickets are available at www.cadetstickets.com.
 
Hobart is ranked No. 6 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 8 in the D3hockey.com poll. Additionally, the Statesmen are No. 6 in the PairWise rankings. The Cadets are No. 4 in the USCHO.com poll and No. 3 in the D3hockey.com poll and No. 3 in the PairWise rankings.
 
Hobart is the No. 4 seed in the tournament and brings a 19-6-2 overall record into the championship game. The Statesmen reached the title game thanks to a 4-1 win over New England College and a 4-0 shutout of top-seeded UMass Boston. The Cadets are the No. 2 seed in the tournament and are 20-4-3 overall. Norwich held off an upset bid from Suffolk in the first round and then outlasted Babson 5-3 to advance to the championship game.
 
Not only is Saturday's game a rematch of last year's NEHC title game, but it also features two of the hottest teams in the nation. Hobart is unbeaten in its last nine games, posting a 7-0-2 record during that stretch. The Cadets have not lost a game in 2019, recording a 14-0-2 mark over those 16 games. Norwich and Hobart's unbeaten streaks are the third and eighth longest current unbeaten streaks in Division III.
 
Hobart is ranked sixth in the nation in scoring margin (+ 2.04 gpg), seventh in the nation in scoring offense (4.15 gpg), eighth in winning percentage (.741), and 15th in scoring defense (2.11 gpg).
 
Individually, the Statesmen are led by senior Jonas Toupal and first-year Zach Tyson, who have 25 points each. Toupal has 12 goals and 13 assists and Tyson has six goals and a team-best 19 assists. Sophomore Travis Schneider leads the team with 14 goals. First-year Liam Lascelle has played majority of the minutes recently for the Statesmen. He is 8-1-2 this season with a .936 save percentage and a 1.64 goals against average.
 
The Cadets are the least penalized team in the nation (averaging 7.1 penalty minutes per game), ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense (1.67 gpg), fifth in winning percentage (.796), 10th in scoring margin (+ 1.74 gpg) and 22nd in scoring offense (3.41 gpg).
 
Norwich is led offensively by Brett Ouderkirk and Felix Brassard, who have 26 points each. Ouderkirk has a team best 14 goals and 12 assists and Brassard has 17 assists. Colby Downs leads the team with 19 assists. Tom Aubrun has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 17-3-3 with a 1.71 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
 
Saturday's title game will be the third match up between the two teams this season. Norwich won both games during the regular season. All-time the Statesmen are 4-3-1 overall against the Cadets, including a 4-2-0 mark in  Northfield.
 
Fans unable to make it to the game can follow the action online with Live Stats and Video. The game will be broadcast on WEOS-FM (89.5/90.3 in Geneva).