Hobart men’s hockey advances to NCAA Championship

HARTFORD, N.Y. (WETM) – The Statesmen are coming back for another title.

In a battle of the two top-ranked teams in the country in NCAA D-III Men’s Hockey, #1 Hobart outlasted #2 Utica 3-1 in the NCAA Semifinals Thursday. With the win, Hobart advances to the NCAA Championship Saturday night at 7 PM in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hobart (27-2-1) will look to win back-to-back national crowns come Saturday night. The Statesmen will face #3 Trinity in finals, the same team who beat Elmira College in the NCAA Quarterfinals 2-0 last weekend. Trinity (25-3-1) beat Adrian College 2-1 in the other semifinal Thursday night.

Hobart, now unbeaten in 24 straight games (23-0-1 since their last loss to Babson in November) received two first period goals storming out to a commanding 2-0 lead. Senior Austin Mourar scored just 52 seconds into the game lighting the lamp for Hobart. Then, Tanner Hartman scored a goal at the 7:25 mark of the first period making his goal the official game winner.

The Statesmen added an empty net goal late in the third period by Shane Shell. Mike Herrara scored the lone goal for Utica (24-3-3) at 9:55 of the second period.

Hobart beat Elmira College in both of their meetings this season, 7-2 and 5-0 back in January. The Statesmen defeated Adrian 3-2 in overtime last season securing their first national hockey title in school history.

(PHOTO: Hobart Athletics – Kevin Colton)

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