(BOX SCORE)

BUFFALO, NY—Keith Longo (Hopedale, MA) made 36 saves and Hobart (1-0) netted two power-play goals en route to a 4-2 victory over host Buffalo State (1-2) tonight at the Ice Arena in the first half of a home-and-home series.

Hobart opened the scoring midway through the first period with a goal by Gregory Alberti (Bernardsville, NJ). Nick Petriello (St. Catharines, ON) scored a power-play goal for Buffalo State with an assist from D'Arcy Thomas (Gatineau, PQ) early in the second frame. The Statesmen added two power-play goals of the own, off the sticks of Patrick Moriarty (Lloyd Harbor, NY) and Bobby Cahill (Farmington Hills, MI), however to take a 3-1 lead at the end of two periods. Jeff Mok (Richmond Hill, ON) netted another power-play goal for the Bengals to cut the margin to one with 3:41 remaining, but Nick DeCroo (Sarver, PA) tallied an empty-netter with just 12 seconds to play to seal the win.

Buffalo State outshot Hobart, 38-30. Travis Moore (Simcoe, ON) made 26 saves for the Bengals.

The same two teams will meet tomorrow in Geneva, NY at 7 p.m.