The Hobart College hockey team, which is ranked seventh in the latest USCHO.com poll, will take on Skidmore this weekend in a home-and-home series. The Statesmen will host the Thoroughbreds on Friday, Jan. 31, before making the return trip to Saratoga Springs on Saturday, Feb. 1. Faceoff for both New England Hockey Conference contests is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
The NEHC travel partners enter the weekend tied for fourth in the conference standings with identical 6-4-2 marks in conference play. They are two points behind New England College and one point clear of UMass Boston.
 
Hobart is 12-4-3 overall. The Statesmen are coming off a 1-1-0 trip to Vermont this past weekend. On Friday, Hobart defeated Castleton 8-3. Senior Zach Sternbach notched his second career hat trick and three other players had two points each to lead the Statesmen. The next day, the Statesmen were edged by then No. 2 Norwich 3-0 in Kreitzberg Arena.
 
The Statesmen enter the week ranked among the nation's best in scoring margin (6th, +2.05 gpg), scoring offense (8th, 4.37 gpg), winning percentage (14th, .711), scoring defense (17th, 2.32 gpg), and penalty kill (17th, 86.8%).
 
Individually, Hobart is led by junior Alec Robitaille's 11 goals and 19 points. Senior Lawson MacDougall is right behind him with 16 points on five goals and 11 assists. Junior Mike Faulkner leads the team with 12 assists. In total, the Statesmen have 11 players who have reached double digits in points this season. Twenty different skaters have at least one goal and 24 have tallied at least a point.
 
Sophomore Joe Halstrom has played a majority of the minutes in goal this season. He is 10-3-3 with a 2.22 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Recently, Halstrom and sophomore Liam Lascelle have split the minutes in goal. Lascelle is 2-1-0 with a 2.69 GAA and a .884 save percentage.
 
Skidmore is 10-5-4 overall this season. The Thoroughbreds are also coming off a 1-1-0 swing through Vermont. On Friday, Norwich defeated Skidmore 3-2. The next day the Thoroughbreds beat Castleton 7-4. Skidmore is averaging 3.11 goals per game while allowing 2.32.  Austin Rook leads the Thoroughbreds with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists. Matt Muzyka has a team best seven goals. Brandon Kasel has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 9-5-4 with a 2.14 GAA and a .931 save percentage.
 
The Hobart and Skidmore hockey teams have met 14 times since 1995. The Statesmen lead the all-time series 10-3-1, including a 6-1-0 mark in Geneva. Hobart is 4-1-1 against the Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.