Hobart College Lacrosse Head Coach T.W. Johnson recently announced the team captains for the 2012 season. Seniors Matt Campbell, Bobby Dattilo, Ryan Korn, and Sam Miller and junior Jake Silberlicht will lead the Statesmen in their 110th varsity season.“It's an honor to announce our captains for the 2012 season,” Johnson said. “Sam, Bobby, Matt, Jake, and Ryan represent what it means to be a Hobart Statesman and I'm more than confident in their ability to lead this year's team. These five men know being a captain is an important responsibility and this group is looking forward to the opportunity that is front of them. The thoughtfulness and detail our players put into the voting process makes me proud and says a lot about their focus heading into the season.”
A defensive midfielder, Campbell scored two goals and collected two ground balls in 13 games last season. He netted his first collegiate goal in a 5-4 win over Bryant and also found the back of the net against No. 4 Syracuse. A leader on and off the field, Campbell organized a team fundraising effort in 2010 that raised more than $6,400 for the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund.
A 2011 All-ECAC first team pick, Dattilo led the conference and ranked third in the nation in faceoff winning percentage with a Hobart season record .649 success rate. He also led the ECAC and ranked eighth in the nation in ground balls per game (6.64). Only two Division I Statesmen have collected more ground balls in a season than Dattilo's 93 in 2011. Against then sixth-ranked Cornell, he collected a career-high 14 ground balls and won 18-of-24 at the X, in addition to scoring a goal. Dattilo won a season-high 21 faceoffs, picked up nine ground balls and dished out a pair of assists against league rival Bellarmine.Korn, a defensive midfielder, played in all 14 games last season. He scooped up a season-high three ground balls at Ohio State. A stellar student, Korn earned a spot on the 2011 ECAC All-Academic Team and was inducted into Hobart's Chimera Society, the junior class honor society.
An attackman, Miller led Hobart with 26 goals and 30 points last spring. He earned All-ECAC second team honors after producing a season-high three points six times, all hat tricks. Miller scored three goals in three consecutive games against Colgate, Binghamton, and Bucknell. He has scored at least one point in 24 straight contests.A midfielder, Silberlicht played in 11 games last season, starting four. He produced a pair of assists, the first two of his career, against Colgate. Silberlicht also won the only faceoff he took in 2011 at Ohio State.
Hobart opens the season on Sunday, Feb. 19 against Siena. The finale of a triple header in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y., the Statesmen and Saints will face off at 5 p.m.