GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College lacrosse team celebrated Senior Day on Boswell Field at Urick University with a 14-12 win over Sacred Heart University today. The Statesmen capped the season with a 6-2 NEC record, securing the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament.
Hobart never trailed the Pioneers on the way to their third straight win. Senior
Ryan Archer led the offense with a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists. Junior
Derrek Madonna added five points on two goals and three assists and senior
Tommy Mott posted two goals and two assists.
The Statesmen controlled the faceoff X, winning 23-of-30 on the day. Senior
Drew Blanchard was 16-of-21 with a game-high 10 ground balls and sophomore
Adam Shea was 7-of-9 with three ground balls.
On the defensive end, senior defenseman
Sam Mueller grabbed seven ground balls and recorded two caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie
Kevin Holtby made eight saves, collected five ground balls and caused two turnovers.
Hobart matched its season-highs with 14 goals, 10 assists, and 10 caused turnovers. The Statesmen established a new season-high with 46 ground balls and 23 faceoff wins. Hobart's extra-man unit finished the day 3-for-5, while the man-down unit limited Sacred Heart to 1-for-4.
The Statesmen opened the day's scoring with a man-up goal by sophomore
Troy Barthelme with Archer earning the assist. The Pioneers pulled even with under four minutes left in the opening quarter. Hobart carried a 3-1 lead into the second quarter thanks to strikes by Madonna and Archer in the final three minutes.
Sacred Heart scored back-to-back goals to start the second quarter, tying the game for the final time. Hobart ripped off three goals in under three minutes to reclaim the lead for good. Sophomore
Jack Grooms started the run with an impressive individual effort in front of the cage. He somehow spun out of a triple team, threw a shot fake at the goalie, and scored with a backhanded shot. SHU stopped the run with about four minutes left in the half, but Blanchard won the ensuing faceoff and scored his second goal of the season and Mott added another in the final minute for an 8-4 halftime lead.
The Pioneers had a 3-2 scoring edge in the third quarter, making it a three-goal goal with 15 minutes to play. Mott scored 22 seconds into the fourth quarter for an 11-7 Hobart lead. SHU kept things interesting with three goals in under three minutes, trimming its deficit to just one with 11:26 to go. The Statesmen countered with a three-goal burst in less than two minutes to cool the visitor's hopes of a comeback.
Archer had a hand in all three goals, setting up first-year
Chad Bach and Barthelme and then fired home his 15th goal of the year. Archer's big day allowed him to jump three spots on the program's Division I era career points list. He started the day 13th, but finished the day at No. 10 with 123 points. Archer broke into the top 20 in career goals, raising his total to 60 to land at No. 19. He now has 63 assists, tied with Jamie Kirk '08 for fifth place.
Mott broke into the top 20 for career assists, raising his total to 31, tied with Alex Love '15 and Mark Williamson '04 for 18th place.
Sacred Heart (1-11, 0-8 NEC) got a team-high four goals from first-year Sal Micco, while senior Logan Liljeberg added a hat trick.
Hobart will host No. 3 seeded Bryant (7-3, 5-2) in the NEC Tournament semifinals at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5. The Statesmen eked out an 11-10 win over the Bulldogs on April 3 in Smithfield, R.I.
