UMass Stuns Hobart in OT

Hobart Sports Information

The Hobart lacrosse team rallied from a two-goal fourth quarter deficit to reclaim the lead only to see 14th-ranked Massachusetts steal an overtime victory for the second straight season. Senior Tim Balise scored just ahead of the final horn to force overtime and classmate Jim Connolly netted his only goal of the contest 23 seconds into OT to lift the Minutemen to a 7-6 ECAC win.

The Statesmen (5-5, 1-4) entered the final quarter trailing the visitors 5-3. Junior Kevin Curtin halved the deficit just over a minute into the frame with his 14th goal of the season. Classmate Tyler Cassell evened the match less than two minutes later with his team-leading 17th.

Both teams had chances to take the lead over the next five minutes, but UMass goalie Doc Schneider and Hobart goalie Max Silberlicht lived up to their pregame billing as two of the best in the nation. Schneider finished with a career-high 21 stops, including 12 in the first half, while Silberlicht matched his career-high with 18 saves.

Senior Jeff Colburn took the attention away from the defense and gave Hobart the lead at the 4:59 mark. He slipped inside his defender and dumped home a shot from the doorstep for his second tally of the game. With the two points, he became the seventh Statesman to record 100 career points, raising his total to 101 (56g, 45a).

Following a failed clear by Hobart in the waning seconds of regulation, the Minutemen (7-3, 4-0) made a nearly full field dash and got the ball to Balise on the left wing. Despite a double team that forced him to his knees, he managed to get a bounce shot away that beat Silberlicht just ahead of the horn. Balise finished with a game-high three goals.

In overtime, UMass won the opening faceoff and Stephen Zorkers took a low shot from the edge of the crease that Silberlicht stopped, but Connolly was there to collect the rebound and score his team-leading 26th goal of the season with a high shot over the kneeling keeper.

Hobart held its only other lead of the day when Colburn scored an extra-man goal midway through the first quarter for a 1-0 advantage. The Minutemen carried a 2-1 lead into halftime thanks to second quarter scores by Art Kell and Balise. Balise made it 3-1 with an extra-man goal to start the third quarter.

The Statesmen needed just 14 seconds to wipe out the advantage. First-year Chris Pedersen scored back-to-back goals at the 8:25 and 8:11 marks to tie the game at 3-all. Pedersen's second goal was set up by a faceoff win by sophomore Nunzio Doldo (9-of-16 at the X) and a ground ball pick up and heads up pass by Curtin.

UMass got both goals back in the final four minutes of the third on strikes by junior Will Jeffery and sophomore Ryan Marcus.

This is the second straight year the Minutemen have used a late comeback to beat Hobart in overtime. Last season, UMass scored twice in the final 80 seconds to force OT and set up an 8-7 win in Amherst.

The Statesmen will be back in action on April 17, when they travel to St. John's. Faceoff in Queens is scheduled for 3 p.m.