#11 Utica 5, Hobart 2 - Box Score

Utica, NY (1-27-12) – The nationally-ranked No. 11 Utica College men's hockey team beat Hobart College, 5-2, Friday night in front of 3,194 fans at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Junior Evan Chlanda (Islip, NY/Springfield (EJHL)) led the Pioneers with two goals on the evening, while senior forward Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) registered two assists and tied the College's all-time scoring mark of 129 points set by All-American and Pioneer Hall of Famer Jimmy Sokol back in 2005.

UC returns to the ice Saturday for the second game of the weekend series as it travels to Geneva, NY for a 7 p.m. conference contest against Hobart. Utica moved to 12-5-1 overall, including a 2-3-1 mark in conference play.  Hobart falls to 10-8 on the season and 1-4 in ECAC West play.

UC jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 6:19 as Chlanda netted his ninth goal of the season off feeds from linemate Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) and sophomore Doug Marshall (Garnett Valley, PA/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)).  The visitors killed two power plays while UC fended off one of its own. The Statesmen outshot the home team 6-3 in the first 20 minutes of action.

The Pioneers came out in the second period and pushed to a 2-0 lead as sophomore George Lotito (Staten Island, NY/NH Jr. Monarchs (EJHL)) scored, even-strength, off a dish from freshman Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ontario/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)), at 2:31. Hobart answered just over five minutes later, at 7:51, to cut the lead to one, 2-1, off a Brad Richard score.  Less than one minute later, at 8:16, the Statesmen knotted up the game, 2-2, off a converted penalty shot from Frank Salituro.  UC regained the lead at 12:23 as Chlanda put home his second goal of the evening to give Utica a 3-2 edge.  Coffman set up the go-ahead goal to tie the programs all-time scoring mark.  The second period shots were even at 11 apiece.

After 14 minutes of quiet play, in the final period, sophomore Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) cushioned UC with his 11th goal of the year, at 14:41, to give the home team a 4-2 advantage.  The Pioneers secured the victory with an empty netter at 19:16 as New Hartford native Rob Morton (New Hartford, NY/Merrimack (Hockey East)) slid in his fifth goal of season from the opposite blue line.

Sophomore Evan Smith (Penticton, British Columbia/Calgary Royals (AJHL)) stopped 24 shots as he moved to 8-3-1 on the season, while Statesmen net minder Martin Ausserhofer recorded 18 saves on the night.