The scores from Hobart’s first two games look like they came from a different era — a memorable one for the Statesmen.

They opened with a 21-12 rout of Canisius and followed up with a 22-12 defeat of Siena. It’s the first time Hobart posted back-to-back 20-goal games since rattling off four in a row late in the 1990 season, when the program was a Division III juggernaut.

Two Statesmen delivered some eye-popping numbers Saturday against Siena. Freshman Jason Knox scored nine goals, the most for a Hobart player since it moved to Division I in the mid-1990s and the most for any Division I player since Navy’s Dave Little had nine against Lehigh on March 25, 2017.

Even more impressive was senior Matthew Pedicine, who was 32 of 37 on faceoffs and set the Division I single-game faceoff wins mark in the process.

It’s tempting to think the embrace of a full-field game is a byproduct of the new rules package. But coach Greg Raymond said he wanted a more up-tempo approach for other reasons.

“We would’ve made these changes whether a shot clock was going in or not,” Raymond said. “It was about making this game a little more fun to play.”

Raymond and the Statesmen haven’t dwelled on the early statistics. Instead, they’ve eagerly involved as many players as possible after not enjoying that luxury while going 4-10 in an injury-riddled 2018.

Hobart has six players with at least five points through two games. It had eight reach that figure all of last season.

“A year ago, because of an injury here or there, we found ourselves fairly thin,” said Raymond, whose team plays host to Cornell on Friday. “We’ve done everything in our power to avoid that feeling because it’s fairly helpless. We don’t want to be in that situation again.”

Black Knights on the rebound?

Army found itself in an unusual spot at the end of last season. The Black Knights went 5-8, their lowest victory total since 1989. It came a year after Army posted a 12-4 record, its most victories since 1993.

It’s early, but core group that experienced both of those seasons has nudged the Black Knights back in the right direction this month. Army opened with one-goal defeats of Massachusetts and Rutgers before dispatching Marist on Tuesday.

“They had the best of both worlds,” Alberici said. “They felt some of the thrills of a 12-win season and some of the disappointment we experienced last year. This reality is, and this was a great teaching tool for our guys, in 2017 we were 6-1 in games decided by two goals or less. In 2018, we were 2-5. They’ve kind of seen it on both ends of it.”

There is unsurprising strength at the defensive end. Goalie A.J. Barretto (.625 save percentage) has posted at least 10 saves in every game, and defenseman Johnny Surdick (nine caused turnovers) remains one of the best in the game.

Meanwhile, level-headed freshman Brendan Nichtern has made an instant impact. He has seven goals (including the overtime winner at Massachusetts and the go-ahead goal late at Rutgers) to go with six assists. He also has 11 turnovers.

“Lots of things happen when Brendan has the ball,” Alberici said.

Army now heads to the Carrier Dome, where it beat Syracuse two years ago. Alberici is optimistic the Black Knights’ early success in tight games will provide a residue that carries into games later in the season, but also knows little is guaranteed despite the impressive opening two weeks.

“I’m pleased with where we’re at, but I think our guys will be the first to admit there’s a long way to go to get to where we want to,” Alberici said. “It’s a good start, but I know that we could very easily be 1-2 right here.”

Navy rides like it’s 2004

Navy opened preseason practice on Jan. 4. One day later, coach Rick Sowell’s team was investing time in the riding game.

It shows.

The Midshipmen’s first two opponents have combined for 43 turnovers, including 25 by UMBC in Navy’s 11-6 victory on Friday.

“It’s been a major point of emphasis,” Sowell said. “I think the guys are really feeding into it. When we get a turnover, we really feed off of it.”

It’s something of a throwback to Navy’s resurgence a decade and a half ago. While substitution rules have changed since then, the Midshipmen used their depth to field a riding unit that badgered opponents into turnovers throughout their run to the 2004 national title game.

The advent of the shot clock provided some incentive to committing more resources to riding, as did an agile attack unit. Navy (2-0) could find it useful Saturday against a Maryland team coming off a midweek game.

“It’s almost like a pride thing,” said sophomore attackman Christian Daniel, who already has three caused turnovers after collecting five in 13 games last season. “If you lose the ball, you really want to fight to get it back. I think we have the personnel that’s capable of doing that.”

Numbers of note

33

Drexel’s 17-16 double overtime victory at Michigan on Tuesday was the highest-scoring Division I game to go extra time since Harvard’s 19-18 defeat of Boston University on March 20, 2018. It’s also the highest scoring D-I game since at least 2013 to require multiple overtimes.

4,000

Last weekend featured the two largest crowds of the young season. Albany-Syracuse drew 4,904 to the Carrier Dome, while Charles Street rivals Loyola and Johns Hopkins attracted 4,630 at Homewood Field. There were 15 crowds of 4,000 or more in the regular season in 2018. 

100

Junior Michael Sowers became the fourth Princeton player to reach the 100-assist plateau after collecting five in the Tigers’ 23-7 rout of Monmouth. Sowers has 102 assists in two seasons plus one game, trailing only Kevin Lowe (174), Ryan Boyle (162) and Jon Hess (133) in Tiger history.