The Hobart hockey team held at No. 2 in this week's USCHO.com poll as it begins preparations for a home-and-home series with third-ranked Utica this week. The Statesmen are receiving six first place votes.
 
Hobart kicked off its 2026-27 season last week, sweeping Elmira in a home-and-home series. On Friday night at The Cooler, the Statesmen scored once in the first and once in the third to extend their home winning streak to 70 games with a 2-0 win. The next night, Hobart erupted for three goals in the second period as it beat Elmira 4-1.
 
Junior Adam Mendelson led the Statesmen with three points on a goal and two assists. Senior Connor Lally (1g, 1a), junior Christian Kocsis (2a) and senior Easton Ryan (2a) also had multi-point weekends.  Junior Connor Shibley got the start in goal on Friday and stopped all 15 shots he faced to earn the shutout. Junior James Norton made 20 saves in Saturday's win.
 
Utica (1-0-1) moved up three spots this week after beating Adrian 3-2 in overtime and tying the Bulldogs 4-4 in Michigan last weekend.
 
The matchup will be a home-and-home series. Thursday night's game will be played at 7 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center. Saturday's game will begin at 4 p.m. at The Cooler.