Jan. 20, 2008
BOXSCORE
Aston, Pa. - Neumann College battled No. 6 Hobart College in the final game of a weekend series at the Ice Works Quad Rinks in Aston, Pa. Saturday evening. Despite a 2-1 first period lead the Knights were unable to overtake the Statesmen who scored four consecutive goals in route to the win.
The loss snaps the Knights' nine game winning streak and drops Neumann to 13-5-0 overall and 4-4-0 in the ECAC West Conference. With the win Hobart improves to 13-3-0 and 3-3-0 in the conference.
"This was a great game for our fans," stated Head Coach Phil Roy. "Unfortunately, we were unable to complete the sweep. We need to learn from tonight's experience and carry the lessons with us so that we will better ourselves throughout the rest of the season."
After falling to Neumann 4-2 in Friday's opener Hobart wasted no time getting things started on Saturday as Jason Merritt scored his second of the year three-minutes into play. Neumann answered with two consecutive goals, the first by Ryan Heickert at 6:09 and the second by Kyle Casey at 19:53 giving Neumann a 2-1 edge going into the break.
The Knights went up 3-1, 8:14 into the second period, after Erik Stoyanvich teamed up with Mark Van Vliet and Matt Ward for his eighth goal of the season. However, Hobart was able to capitalize on a power-play scoring their second goal of the night at 13:37 to stay within one of the Knights after two periods of play, keeping fans on the edge of their seats.
Hobart tied the game at three in the sixth minute of the third period and took over the lead a minute later when Patrick Moriarty scored a shorthanded goal, proving that they, a national powerhouse, would not go quietly into the night.
After Hobart's Kyle Whitaker was called for tripping at 18:15 Neumann, pulled starting goal tender Mike Collichio who had 28 saves on the night. With the extra man Neumann hoped for the best but found the worst. Nick DeCroo, who leads the statesmen with nine goals on the season, took advantage of some miscommunication on the Knights defensive end and skated the length of the rink, scoring on the empty net.
That goal disappointed Knights fans but, as the dash for the doors started, Neumann scored a power-play goal at the 19:23 mark, letting their faithful supporters know it was not over. Moments later Neil Trimm fought to push the puck across the line but the goal was called back after officials determined the net to be dislodged.
The Knights remained optimistic in the final moments of play and after calling a time-out with 11-seconds left, Neumann had good positioning for the final face off. The Knights fought to control the puck off an offensive zone face-off but the Statesmen buried the puck in corner preventing the Knights from getting any further opportunities on net.
