GENEVA, N.Y. – The #13 Nichols College men's ice hockey team fell to #6 Hobart, 3-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championship Wednesday night at the Cooler. First-year netminder Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) made a career-high 34 saves in the loss, as the Bison made the program's first appearance in the Championship after earning an automatic bid by winning the ECAC Northeast title. Nichols concludes its season with a 25-4-0 ledger, the most wins in program history. The Statesmen (20-6-2) advance to face Amherst in the quarterfinals on March 14^th in Amherst, Mass.

The first period saw the hosts maintain a 17-6 shot advantage, including five on a trio of power plays, but Rinn stood tall, shutting out the Statesmen.

The Bison came out firing in the middle frame, outshooting their hosts, 18-0 in the stanza, including eight shots in three power-play attempts. Nichols came close on its final man advantage, as the Bison peppered Hobart netminder Keith Longo with several close-range shots, but the senior was up to the task, finishing with eight power-play saves in the second period.

Hobart, however, took advantage of its shots, taking a 2-0 lead in the second period on goals by Ryan Adler and Gregory Alberti. Adler put Hobart on the board at 8:17 of the frame with his third goal of the season, sneaking in a shot from the left side of the net past Nichols netminder Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.).Aleksey Koval found Jason Merritt in the left circle where Merritt swiped a pass to Adler as he crashed in toward the left post to earn assists.

Daniel Organ avoided a check and poked the puck ahead along the right boards to Alberti late in the frame to set up the Statesmen's second goal. Alberti collected the puck as he skated through the neutral zone and fired from the right circle. His shot hit Rinn's pads, but the puck crept under for a 2-0 lead at 17:43.

The Statesmen added another in the final stanza as Bryant Harris lit the lamp at 8:21 for a 3-0 lead. Patrick Moriarty found Jordan Zitoun below the right circle and Zitoun sent the puck across the slot to Harris, who was stationed at the left point. Harris wound up and fired a slapshot just above ice level that sailed past Rinn for the final 3-0 score.

The Bison had three power-play opportunities in the final period, generating six shots during the span. Nichols finished 0-for-7 on the power play, and held Hobart 0-for-5 with the man advantage on the night.

Rinn stoned the Statesmen with 17 saves in the first period, and made eight in the second and nine in the third. Keith Longo stopped 35 in his third shutout of the season.

Nichols set the program record for wins in a season with 25, and also claimed its first ECAC Northeast regular-season and championship titles. The Bison defeated Wentworth, 4-3, on March 7 to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The men's hockey team is the second team in Nichols Athletics' history to make an NCAA Tournament appearance; the 2002 women's soccer team also advanced to the NCAA Championship first round.

Tonight's game marked the final game for Nichols' six-member senior class that helped turn around the men's hockey program that saw 26-straight losing seasons prior to their arrival: defenseman Glenn Cacaro (Sioux Falls, S.D.), defenseman Jeff Bieber (Littleton, Colo.), defenseman Cole Ruwe (Pekin, Ill.), forward Anthony Monte (Chicago, Ill.), forward Ryan Gervais (Chicago, Ill.) and goaltender Keith Fink (Easton, Md.). 

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