The sixth-ranked Hobart College hockey team is scheduled to take on eighth-ranked Elmira this weekend, Jan. 21-22 in a pivotal home-and-home series between the first and second place teams in the New England Hockey Conference standings. The series will be the fourth and fifth top 10 showdown for the Statesmen in their past eight games.
 
Hobart enters the weekend with a 12-3-1 overall record and a 7-1-1 mark in conference play. The Statesmen sit atop the conference standings with 20 points, one clear of the Soaring Eagles. Elmira is 12-3-1 with a 6-2-1 mark in the NEHC. The Soaring Eagles are one of three teams in second place with 19 points. A tight conference race, the top six teams in the NEHC are separated by six points.
 
Friday's game will be held at First Arena in downtown Elmira, New York. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. General admission tickets will cost $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students over the age of 10. Children under 10 will be admitted free. All spectators are required to follow COVID-19 protocols from the State of New York, Chemung County and Elmira College while visiting First Arena. All spectators must remain masked except when consuming food and beverage. Fans who can't make the trip can follow all the action through video and live stats through the Empire 8 network.
 
Saturday's game at The Cooler is scheduled for a 4 p.m. faceoff. All spectators are asked to monitor their health and stay home if experiencing any COVID symptoms. Spectators are required to wear a properly fitting masks while inside The Cooler. Fans who cannot make the trip to Geneva can follow all the action with Live Stats and HWS All-Access video.
 
Hobart is ranked third in the nation in scoring offense (4.94 gpg) and fourth in scoring margin (+ 2.81), assists (140) and points (219). In addition, the Statesmen are seventh in winning percentage (.781), 10th in power-play percentage (.268) and 16th in scoring defense (2.12).
 
Individually, Hobart is led by Luke Aquaro's 19 points on10 goals and nine assists. He's recorded at least one point in the last 10 games. Aaron Maguyon is right behind him with 17 points, including a team-high 12 goals. Maguyon is fourth in the nation with three game-winning goals and fifth in the nation with five power-play goals. Cooper Swift leads the team with 13 assists. Hobart has had 30 players record at least one point this season and has nine players with 10 or more points.
 
Liam Lascelle and Joe Halstrom continue to split the minutes in goal for the Statesmen. Lascelle is 6-2-0 with a 2.05 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. He is 13th in the nation in winning percentage (.750) and 22nd in GAA.  Halstrom is 5-1-1 with a .901 save percentage and 2.32 GAA.  He is 11th in the nation in winning percentage (.786).
 
Elmira enters the weekend riding a six-game win streak, including wins over No. 1 Geneseo (4-3, Dec. 11), No. 8 Norwich (5-4, Jan. 8) and No. 6 Babson (5-3, Jan. 15). The Soaring Eagles are second in the nation in power play percentage (.327), sixth in scoring offense (4.50 gpg) and seventh in assists (128), points (200) and winning percentage (.781).
 
Elmira is led by Chance Gorman's 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. Shawn Kennedy has a team-best 12 goals to go along with 10 assists. Janis Vizbelis (10g, 10a) also has 20 points. Chris Janzen has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 6-3-1 with a 3.08 GAA and a .891 save percentage. Jeffrey Zero is 5-0-0 in goal this season, including wins over the Knights and the Cadets. He has a 1.95 GAA and a .938 save percentage.
 
Entering the weekend, Hobart and Elmira have met 92 times on the ice. The Soaring Eagles lead the all-time series 59-30-3. The Statesmen are 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings.