The top-ranked Hobart hockey team returns to The Cooler this Saturday, Feb. 24, as it continues its defense of the Mariano Cup with a New England Hockey Conference semifinal contest. The Statesmen, who are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament will take on seventh-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
 
The Statesmen enter the weekend with an overall record of 23-2-1.  Hobart is coming off an 8-1 win over eighth-seeded Castleton. Junior Luke Aquaro had five points, including two goals. Sophomore Damon Beaver made 20 saves in the win. 
 
Southern Maine is 10-13-1 after a 3-1 upset of second-seeded Norwich last Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the NEHC tournament. The Huskies scored three times in the final 10 minutes of the game to advance. Mason Palmer stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced in goal.
 
ABOUT THE STATESMEN

• Sophomore Tanner Hartman leads Hobart with 25 assists and 41 points. His 25 helpers this year are tied for ninth on Hobart's single-season list.
• Hartman is tied with fellow sophomore Ignat Belov and junior Luke Aquaro for the team lead with 16 goals each.
• Beaver has the edge in minutes played in goal for the Statesmen this season. He is 13-1-1 with a GAA of 0.99, a .961 save percentage and five shutouts this season.
  
   

NATIONAL NUMBERS

• Hobart is first in the nation in scoring offense (5.50), scoring defense (0.96), scoring margin (+4.54), winning percentage (.904) and penalty killing percentage (.963). The Statesmen are fifth in power-play percentage (.291).
• Hartman is fifth in the nation in assists per game (0.96) and sixth in points per game (1.58). Aquaro is seventh in the nation in goals per game (0.73).
• Beaver and his fellow sophomore goalie Mavrick Goyer are both ranked in the top 10 in the nation in goalie winning percentage, GAA, save percentage and shutouts. The only category they are not both ranked in the top three in the nation in is save percentage, Goyer is sixth (.947).

 
ABOUT THE HUSKIES

• Austin Marini leads the Huskies with 16 assists and 24 points.
• Matt Sullivan has 11 goals and is third on the team with 17 points.
• Kyle Penton has the edge in minutes played in goal for the Huskies this season. He is 5-9-1 with a 3.47 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Palmer, who started last weekend against Norwich, is 5-2-2 with a 3.19 GAA and a .913 save percentage.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday will be the 15th meeting between the Statesmen and the Huskies.
• Hobart leads the all-time series 13-1-0, including wins in all seven games played in Geneva.
• On Jan. 20, the Statesmen defeated the Huskies 9-1. Senior Jonah Alexander had a game-high four points on a goal and three assists. Belov had two goals and Goyer made 18 saves. Penton played just under 56 minutes and made 63 saves in goal for the Huskies.