Geneva, NY – In a game that will go down in the NCAA history books, #12 Curry College took on the reigning national champions #1 Hobart in an NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal game on Saturday, and played into Sunday morning. The top ranked Statesmen would come away with the victory, winning 4-3 15:17 into the fourth overtime of the game. Playing 135 minutes and 17 seconds, the game ranks as the second longest game in DIII history, trailing only the Gustavus/Augsburg game in 2010, which went 138 minutes and 38 seconds. The Colonels end their season at 21-6-1, while the Statesmen advance to the NCAA DIII Semifinals at 26-2-1. This marks the second consecutive season that Hobart has ended the Colonels season in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals.

The Colonels drew first blood, as they scored with 31 seconds remaining in the first period, as Killian Rowlee (Sophomore/Fulton, NY( scored his 11^th goal on the season. It was assisted by Wilhelm Patriksson (Freshman/Stockholm, Sweden), his third of the season.

The Colonels would double their lead a little over four and a half minutes into the second, as Gage Dill (Sophomore/Estero, FL) found the back of the net, his 12^th of the season, tying him for the team lead on the season. That goal was assisted by Alexander Duncan (Junior/Andover, MA), his fifth of the year. But Hobart would get one back with just under five minutes remaining, as Tanner Daniels scored off a pass from Kahlil Fontana, making it 2-1. That is how things stood going into the third.

The third period saw the Statesmen tie things up just under two minutes into the period, as Chris Duclair scored from Jonah Alexander and Conor Lailey. They would then take their first lead of the game just two and a half minutes later when Alexander scored himself, off assists from Luke Aquaro and Jared Patterson. Facing a deficit for the first time in the game, the Colonels did not back down from their top ranked opponent, and found the equalizer with just under seven minutes remaining in the game, as Austan Bellefeuille (Graduate/Framingham, MA) and Matt Connor (Sophomore/Nottingham, NH) assisted Tao Ishizuka's (Senior/Providence, RI) 11^th goal of the season. It was Bellefeuille's 11^th assist on the season, and Connor's 15^th.

With things knotted up at the end of regulation, the two teams went to overtime, multiple times over. It wasn't until Hobart's Bauer Morrissey scored off passes from Daniels and Fontana late in the fourth overtime that the game was decided.

The star of the game, on either side, was Curry goalie Shane Soderwall (Freshman/Algonquin, IL). The freshman stopped an NCAA tying record of 98 shots, previously set by another freshman in Justin Lochner, who did so in that Gustavus/Augsburg game in 2010. In doing so, Soderwall bested the previous Curry record of 69 set by Mike Manganaro against New England College in 1996.

It wasn't just Soderwall making an effort on defense, as 18 of the 19 position players for the Colonels recorded a blocked shot, led by Ryan Prewitt (Freshman/Abington, MA) with eight, and then Eelis Laaksonen (Junior/Espoo, Finland) and Ishizuka with six each. As a team the Colonels blocked 51 shots.

Throughout the game the Statesmen controlled the pace and the puck, They would outshoot the Colonels 203-86, with a 102-47 shots on goal advantage. Eleven different Hobart players recorded double-digit shots. They also won 116 of 162 faceoffs, with both Tristan Fasig and Artem Buzoverya winning 40 apiece.

Up Next – The Colonels will look to return the core of their team, as they lose just three key contributors in George Vonakis, Austan Bellefeuille, and Tao Ishizuka who all graduate. The Statesmen will continue to pursue their repeat aspirations when they take on #4 Utica on Thursday, March 21^st at the NCAA Semifinals in Hartford, CT. The other semifinal will feature host #2 Trinity (CT) taking on #3 Adrian.