The Hobart College hockey team will host rival Elmira in an NCAA tournament first round game Saturday, March 12. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at The Cooler.
 
Tickets will be $6 for general admission, $4 for students with ID and $3 for children ages 3-12. Children two and under get in free. HWS students will be admitted to the game free of charge with a valid student ID compliments of HWS Athletics. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. and tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The campus shuttle will be running from Medbury Lot to The Cooler continuously starting at 6 p.m.
 
In addition, the Macarollin food truck will be on site. HWS students will receive one item free with their OneCard compliments of the Statesmen Athletic Association. Other guests can pay with debit, credit, cash or Venmo.
 
Fans who cannot make the trip to Geneva can follow all the action with HWS All-Access and Live Stats. The game will also be broadcast on WHWS-FM (105.7 in Geneva).
 
The Statesmen are ranked seventh in the USCHO.com poll and are 19-5-2 overall this season. The Soaring Eagles are 18-6-2 this season and ranked 10th in the USCHO.com poll. The top two teams in the NEHC regular season standings earned at-large bids into the NCAA tournament.
 
Hobart has been one of the top offensive squads in the country all season. They enter the weekend ranked fourth in the nation in scoring margin (+2.58 gpg) and fifth in scoring offense (4.88 gpg), assists (228) and points (355) and eighth in winning percentage (.769). The Statesmen are 20th in scoring defense (2.31) and power-play percentage (.231). Thirty players have recorded at least a point and 24 have scored a goal. Hobart has 13 players in double digits in points and seven players have 20-plus points.
 
Luke Aquaro leads the team with 31 points on 15 goals and 16 assists. He ranks 25th in the nation in goals per game (0.62), 29th in power-play goals (5), and 30th in points per game (1.29). Zach Tyson leads the team with 17 assists.
 
Liam Lascelle has played a majority of the minutes recently. He is 10-4-1 overall with a 2.22 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. He is 23rd in the nation in winning percentage (.700) and is 26th in GAA.
 
Elmira is also ranked in several statistical categories. The Soaring Eagles are second in the nation in power-play percentage (.337), eighth in assists (190), 10th in points (298), 11th in scoring offense (4.15), 12th in scoring margin (+1.73) and 13th in winning percentage (.731).
 
Elmira has eight players with 20-plus points this season led by Chance Gorman who has 12 goals and 17 assists. Shawn Kennedy leads the team with 17 goals. His eight power-play goals are fifth in the nation. Chris Janzen has played a majority of the minutes in goal. He is 11-6-2 with a 2.47 GAA and a .918 save percentage.
 
Saturday's game will be the 95th meeting between Hobart and Elmira. It is the Statesmen's most contested rivalry with 26 more games than the next closest match-up. The Soaring Eagles lead the all-time series 60-31-3, including a 26-14-2 mark in Geneva. Elmira had the early edge in the series, winning 38 times from 1984-2002. Under Head Coach Mark Taylor, Hobart holds a 30-26-3 edge in the series.
 
This will be the third meeting during the 2021-22 season between the two teams. Both teams won their game on the road. Hobart went down to First Arena in Elmira and came away with a 2-0 win on Jan. 21. The next day, the Soaring Eagles survived a Statesmen comeback and won 5-4 in overtime, with the game-winning goal coming with 14 seconds left in the extra period.