GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart College will welcome members of its 1972 lacrosse team back to campus this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the college's first national championship. The 1972 Statesmen in attendance will be introduced at halftime of Hobart's Northeast Conference game against Long Island University Saturday, April 23. Opening faceoff is scheduled for noon.
 
The 1972 Statesmen went 17-1 and captured the USILA College Division National Championship with a 15-12 win over Washington (Md.) College. They outscored opponents by nearly 10 goals per game while establishing to program standard for wins in a season.
 
The team opened the season with a gritty 4-3 win over Hofstra, kick-starting a nine-game winning streak. Hobart suffered its only loss at Cortland on May 4, but rebounded to win its final five games of the regular season, including a thrilling 11-10 win at Cornell.
 
The USILA tournament quarterfinals proved to be the most dramatic game of Hobart's championship run. The Statesmen trailed Adelphi 11-9 with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. B.J. O'Hara '75 scored off an assist by Rick Gilbert '74 to make it a one-goal game with 3:25 left, but as the clock ticked under a minute, the Statesmen still trailed by one. Gilbert also assisted on the game-tying goal, which was bounced home by Kevin McLean '73 with just 57 seconds left in regulation.
 
In 1972, overtime was two four-minute periods, not sudden death. It was a good thing it wasn't sudden death as it is today. The Panthers scored 13 seconds into OT and doubled their advantage 17 seconds after that. McLean set up Gilbert to make it a 13-12 game with barely a minute gone in the first overtime. Hobart still trailed with less than a minute left in the second overtime. With 39 seconds remaining, McLean picked up a loose ball in front of the Adelphi goal and fired home his second game-tying goal of the day.
 
The first sudden death overtime passed without a winner. In the second, Adelphi had the ball early, but couldn't solve Hobart goalie Dave Creighton '72 made two of his 12 saves in the game to keep the Statesmen alive. Hobart finally broke out of the defensive zone, racing up field in a 3-on-1. Gilbert took a shot that was saved, but he collected the loose ball and whipped a pass to Greg Hughan '72, whose game-winning goal came at 74:03.
 
Four days later, Hobart welcomed UMass to Boswell Field, dispatching the visitors from Amherst 13-2. In the championship, also played on Boswell Field, Hughan and O'Hara each had four goals as the Statesmen topped the Shoremen in the first of several tournament showdowns between the programs.
 
The 1972 Hobart lacrosse team was honored as a Hobart Team of Distinction in 2007. The 1972 squad featured five All-Americans: Creighton, Gilbert, Hughan, Tom Gaggin '72 and Bob Raleigh '73, and produced eight current Hobart Hall of Famers: Don Aleksiewicz '73, Creighton, Jeremy Foley '74, Gilbert, O'Hara, Raleigh, Head Coach Jerry Schmidt and Assistant Coach Dave Urick.