Expectations are extremely high for 1st year Head Coach Greg Raymond in Hobart’s first season in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Raymond comes to Hobart after stints as an assistant at Princeton and Drexel. Joining Greg on his coaching staff are Peet Poillon, Jeremy Hirsch and Terry Muffley. Raymond’s staff inherits a 6-8 team from a year ago that has strong senior leadership on offense and in the goal.
The 2014 Hobart Statesmen begin the Raymond era with a road contest vs. Siena and expect this year’s Hobart team to play a fast brand of lacrosse with a focus on the fundamentals as well as disciplined team defense. Raymond stated that his fall program has a strong emphasis on two way midfield play and making the offense more efficient.
Beginning on attack, Hobart will rely on the senior trio of Alex Love, Cam Stone and Jake McHenry. Love, was a 2013 U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American honorable mention and the nation’s third leading scorer with 45 goals and 10 assists. Love is a special player who has the ability to get his hands free to shoot. (151 shots a year ago). Stone (20, 29) is the quarterback of the offense and is an unselfish player who is a team leader. McHenry (22, 3) is a strong dodger and is good off ball. The unit has the potential to be one of the strongest in its NEC as well as the nation.
At midfield juniors Taylor Vanderbeek and Brandon Kessler make up a strong 1-2 punch in the middle. After the two juniors, Raymond stated that his midfield is deep with players competing for the opportunity to play. Among those in the mix are Senior Ryan Munnelly, Junior Zach Reed, Sophomore Ryan Brown and Freshmen Greg Sheetz and Mark Darden.
In addition to middies on the offensive side, Raymond is excited about his short stick defensive middies. Junior Thomas Petrocci, Sophomores Teddy Sisco and Sam Washburne are expected to generate transition with their speed and ball hawking ability.
At faceoff, junior Gryphin Kelly and sophomore Charles Sipe must improve upon their combined 48% win total from 2013. Both players are being pushed by Freshman Jake Shapiro.
On defense, it begins with Goalie Peter Zonino and Long Stick Midfielder Peter Bolte. Zonino is a strong stopper who has a great work ethic and is the leader in between the pipes. Bolte has the ability and size to be a force in transition and has the ability to play at the next level along with Love. At close defense: senior Connor Eustace is a versatile player who can play on and off –ball while freshman Arik Andreen is a strong athlete who is great on groundballs. Freshmen Shane Hurley, Grant Soucy and Noel McGuiness are battling for the third spot. Junior George Fries and sophomore Lars Zanbergs are also pushing for playing time. As a group, it will take time for this unit to gel, but an improvement from its 12.21 GAA from 2013 is expected.
With a strong attack and strong goaltending, Hobart has a goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament as an automatic qualifier in the NEC. Raymond and his coaching staff have this tradition rich program pointed in the right direction and a return to the NCAA tournament is possible in a highly competitive NEC.
