Hobart suffers 5-4 setback to Rutgers

The 13th-ranked Hobart College lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season this afternoon, falling to Rutgers 5-4 on McCooey Field. The Statesmen slip to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the ECAC Lacrosse League, while the Scarlet Knights improve to 2-5 overall, 1-1 in the conference.

First-year Chris Pedersen (Ridgewood/Nyack, N.Y.) paced Hobart's offense with two goals, while senior Jeff Colburn (Cicero-North Syracuse/Liverpool, N.Y.) and junior Kevin Curtin (Corcoran/Syracuse, N.Y.) each totaled a goal and an assist.

Rutgers first-year Michael Diehl (Hunterdon Central/Flemington, N.J.) tallied twice and added an assist to lead the Scarlet Knights, while junior Justin Pennington (Hunterdon Central/Flemington, N.J.) notched a goal and a helper.

After playing most of the first quarter scoreless, Diehl found the back of the net for his first goal of the day with just two seconds remaining, giving Rutgers the early 1-0 lead. He was assisted by junior Hunter Burnard (Binghamton/Binghamton, N.Y.).

The Scarlet Knights built upon their lead in the second stanza, as sophomore Kory Kelly (South Brunswick/Princeton, N.J.) capitalized on a man-up opportunity with 6 minutes, 27 seconds to play. Just over two minutes later, Pennington found junior Gerhard Buehning (Seton Hall Prep/Essex Fells, N.J.) for another Rutgers tally, giving the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

With 2:12 left in the half, Colburn finally broke through for the Statesmen. He ripped an unassisted goal past Scarlet Knights' goalie Billy Olin (Horseheads/Horseheads, N.Y.) to cut Hobart's deficit to 3-1 at the break.

After a scoreless third quarter, Hobart came out firing in the fourth and quickly tied the game at 3-all. Pedersen and Colburn connected for a man-up goal just 15 seconds into the session, followed by Curtin's tally to even the game less than a minute later.

Diehl answered for Rutgers at the 11:23 mark with an unassisted score, putting the Scarlet Knights back on top, 4-3. A few minutes later, he set up Pennington for a man-up goal and the eventual game-winner.

Pedersen netted his second of the game with 17 seconds left in regulation to bring the Statesmen within one, but Hobart would run out of time.

Junior goaltender Max Silberlicht (New Hartford/New Hartford, N.Y.) collected six saves for the Statesmen, while Olin finished with seven stops for Rutgers. Hobart held a 32-25 advantage in total shots.

The Statesmen will be back in action on Tues., March 24, when they travel to Syracuse to take on the second-ranked Orange at 7 p.m.