The top-ranked Hobart College hockey team renews its rivalry with third-ranked Elmira College this weekend, Jan. 26-27, when the New England Hockey Conference travel partners square off for a home-and-home series. Friday night the Statesmen head to Elmira for a 7 p.m. faceoff at the Murray Athletic Center. On Saturday, Hobart will host the Soaring Eagles, puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. This is the second time in the last three seasons that both teams are ranked in the top 10 in the USCHO.com poll when the teams meet.
 
The Statesmen enter the weekend with an overall record of 16-2-1 and a 10-1-1 mark in conference play. Hobart is first in the conference standings with 31 points. The Statesmen are coming off wins over Babson (5-0) and Southern Maine (9-1). On Friday against the Beavers, sophomore Tristian Fasig scored two goals, and Damon Beaver stopped all 25 shots as he earned his fifth shutout of the season. Against the Huskies, sophomore Ignat Belov netted two goals and senior Jonah Alexander had four points on a goal and three assists. Mavrick Goyer made 18 saves as he earned the victory.
 
The Soaring Eagles are 15-3-1 overall with an 8-3-1 record in NEHC play. They are third in the conference standings with 25 points. This past weekend Elmira was 1-0-1 against Southern Maine and Babson. The Soaring Eagles tied the Huskies 4-4. Jordan Gonzalez had two assists in the draw. The Soaring Eagles then defeated Babson 4-1. Ten different players recorded a point for the Soaring Eagles.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE

• Live Stats: Friday / Saturday
• Video: Friday / Saturday

 
ABOUT THE STATESMEN

• Sophomore Tanner Hartman leads Hobart with 12 goals, 17 assists and 29 points.
• Belov also has 12 goals. He is second on the team with 22 points.
• Thirteen different Statesmen have 10 or more points this season.
• Beaver has the edge in minutes played in goal for the Statesmen. He is 9-1-1 with a 0.90 GAA, a .965 save percentage and five shutouts. Goyer is 6-1-0 with a 0.58 GAA, a .965 save percentage and five shutouts.

 
NATIONAL NUMBERS

• In addition to their No. 1 ranking, the Statesmen are the top-ranked team in several statistical categories. Hobart is first in penalty-killing percentage (1.00), scoring defense (0.79), scoring offense (5.32), scoring margin (+4.53), goals (101), assists (175), and points (276).
• Hobart is second in power-play percentage (.338) and winning percentage (.868).
• Hartman is ranked sixth in points per game (1.53), 11th in assists per game (0.89) and 16th in goals per game (0.67).

 
ABOUT THE SOARING EAGLES

• Nicholas Domitrovic is the leading goal scorer for Elmira. He has 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points.
• Shawn Kennedy has a team-high 17 assists.
• Kyle Curtin has played the majority of minutes in goal for the Soaring Eagles. He has a 2.06 GAA and a .939 save percentage.

 
NATIONAL NUMBERS

• Elmira is first in the nation in power-play percentage (.377). The Soaring Eagles are third in the nation in scoring offense (4.74), scoring margin (+2.63), assists (153) and points (243).
• Domitrovic is third in the nation in points per game (1.63) and fourth in goals per game (0.79). Kennedy is eighth in the nation in assists per game (0.94).

 
SERIES HISTORY

• This weekend will be the 98th and 99th meetings between the Statesmen and the Soaring Eagles. It is the most games that Hobart has played against one opponent.
• Elmira leads the all-time series 61-33-2, but Hobart is 6-3-1 in the last 10 meetings.
• Last year, the teams split the regular season series with both teams winning on home ice. In Geneva, the Statesmen won 7-0, the largest margin of victory in the series for Hobart. The next day in Pine Valley, Elmira won 7-5.