GENEVA — Today at 7 p.m., the Hobart Statesmen advance with a first-round bye and will take on the No. 12-ranked Curry Colonels in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
Sound familiar?
On March 18, 2023, No. 2 ranked Hobart hosted No. 7 Curry in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. The Statesmen, who received a bye in the first round, were trailing 1-0 in the second period, but Hobart took control with three goals in the first 35 seconds, leading to a 5-1 lead. With the win, they advanced to the Frozen Four.
The rest of Hobart's 2023 postseason will be history, and the Statesmen will certainly hope history repeats itself in 2024, especially in tonight's quarterfinals 363 days later.
The Statesmen (25-2-1) will look to accomplish a few things Saturday: Set an NCAA Division III home winning streak record at 37 games and end their second consecutive season undefeated at home. , silence Curry again, and advance to another Frozen Four. All of these can be achieved by winning.
Curry (21-5-1) enters the weekend having defeated No. 9 Geneseo 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Colonels were led by Gage Dill and Tao Ishizuka, who each had one goal and one assist. Shane Soderwall stopped all 35 shots.
So a new element has been added to this year's game: Curry as goaltender. Soderwall, a freshman, had an impressive first year at the collegiate level. Similar to Damon Beaver's numbers for the 2022-23 season, Soderwall has a .946 save percentage and 1.57 goals against average. He went 15-3 this season and played 1,111 minutes. By comparison, Bieber's stats as a freshman were a .955 average save percentage and a 1.04 goals against average.
Bieber has somehow improved on those numbers this season, currently holding a .963 save percentage and a meager .94 GAA.
For Curry to have the best chance against Hobart, Soderwall will need to be at his best, but even that may not be enough. The Statesmen have a knack for beating strong goaltenders. In the New England Hockey Conference championship two weeks ago, Skidmore goaltender Tate Brandon entered the game with a .958 save percentage, and the Statesmen trailed him by four points just moments into the third period. is. His batting average dropped to .938 by the end of the game as Hobart gave him 51 shots.
Sauderwall is three inches taller than Brandon at 6-foot-2 and will cover more of the net. He ranks third in the nation in save percentage behind Beaver and Mavrick Goyer, and fifth in GAA.
Hobart became the first team in the nation to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals in terms of offensive scoring (5.43), defensive scoring (0.93), scoring differential (+4.50), winning percentage (.911), and penalty kill percentage (.965). The Statesmen have destroyed 80 of their opponents' 83 power-play chances so far this season. Additionally, Hobart ranks fourth in the nation in power play percentage.
Bieber ranks first in the nation in goalie winning percentage (.912) and save percentage (.963) and second in GAA (.94) behind teammate Goyer (.91).
The Statesmen will attack Soderwall with the kind of depth the freshman and his team have yet to face.
Sophomore forward Tanner Hartman leads Hobart in scoring, ranking third nationally with 44 points and fifth with 20 points. He ranks sixth in the nation in points per game (1.56), eighth in assists per game (0.96) and 17th in points scored. Goals per game (0.63).
Hartman's linemate, Ignat Belov, ranks 12th in the nation in scoring with 16 goals and 21 assists. He and Hartman are tied for 11th in game-winning goals (4). In addition to Hartman and Belov, two other players scored in double figures: Luke Acquaro (16 points) and freshman Chris Duclair (14 points). Captain Artem Buzoberia, who was named NEHC Player of the Year, finished the year with eight goals and 23 assists.
As a team, Hobart has scored 152 goals and allowed 26 goals this season.
The Colonels will rely heavily on front linemen Iris Laaksonen (12 goals, 16 assists), Gage Dill (11 goals, 18 assists) and Tao Ishizuka (10 goals, 14 assists). This trio has accounted for 37% of Curry's goals this season. Curry scored 89 total goals and allowed 53 goals.
Hobart is 11-0 overall against Curry. The Colonels have never held the Statesmen to fewer than four goals, and the Statesmen will look to keep that going tonight.
