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GENEVA, NY - The #3 Utica men's hockey team nearly pulled off a stunning comeback against #2 Hobart on Saturday afternoon, scoring three times right before the end of the opening, second, and third periods before ultimately falling just short in a 4-3 decision at The Cooler. The Pioneers battled back from an early two-goal deficit and erased much of a three-goal Hobart advantage in the closing minutes, putting a scare into the Statesmen who were defending their 70-game home winning streak.
Hobart struck first just 59 seconds into the opening period, as Tamas Toth found the back of the net. Toth added his second of the afternoon at 13:24 to put the Pioneers in a 2-0 hole, However, the Pioneers were up for the challenge on Saturday. Utica answered in the final minute of the period, as
Andrew Della Rovere (Caledon East, Ontario/St. Michael's Catholic) finished a play set up by
Gabriel Lundberg (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) and
Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids) at 19:21 to cut the deficit to one heading into the first intermission. Della Rovere drifted just outside the slot, where Morse managed to find him in open ice. The Pioneer center proceeded to fire a slot off a sliding Hobart defender, with the rebound flying past the Statesman goaltender to cut the deficit in half.
The Statesmen restored their two-goal cushion in the second period when Kocsis scored at 16:00 to make it a 4-1 contest. Once again, the Pioneers had an answer late in the period. With a power-play opportunity in the closing seconds,
Morse buried a feed from
Della Rovere and
Evan Dantas (Brampton, ON/Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic) at 19:54, bringing Utica back within two at 4-2 heading into the third. The puck movement was spectacular, as Dantas found Della Rovere below goal, before the senior center found Morse right on the doorstep to once again cut the lead in half.
The Pioneers continued to push in the final period, keeping Hobart off the scoreboard while looking for a way back into the contest. After
Mitchell Day (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) and the Utica defense weathered the Statesmen's pressure,
Nicholas Rogers (Broad Channel, NY/Xavier) brought the Pioneers within one at 16:11, finishing a setup from
Jakub Galnor (Prerov, Czechia) directly off the faceoff to make it 4-3. During a faceoff deep in Hobart territory, Galnor won the puck right to Rogers, who beat the opposing goalie glove side with a rocket to bring the Pioneers within one.
Now down just a single goal, the orange and blue pulled Day for the final two minutes and generated several late chances, but Hobart held on to preserve the one-goal victory and its home winning streak.
The Pioneer offense was led by Della Rovere and Morse, who each finished with a goal and an assist. Della Rovere also delivered a strong performance at the faceoff dot, winning 14 of his 23 draws. Morse contributed three blocked shots, while Rogers scored Utica's third goal and led the team with six shots on goal. Galnor added an assist on Rogers' third-period tally. In net,
Mitchell Day (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) turned aside 22 shots for the Pioneers, while Hobart's James Norton made 16 saves.
Utica converted one of its three power-play opportunities, while Hobart went scoreless on both of its chances with the man advantage. Despite trailing by three in the second period, the Pioneers continued to battle and made the final minutes a tense finish, coming within one goal of ending Hobart's 70-game home winning streak.
The Pioneers will open UCHC play next Friday when they return to the NBT Bank Arena for a 7:00 PM battle against Brockport. The two teams will head to Wegmans Arena the next day to wrap up the series.
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