ELMIRA COLLEGE MEN’S ICE HOCKEY GAME NOTES
10 ECAC West Championships
WEDNESDAY’S OPPONENT
17 NCAA Tournament Appearances
Last Time Out
Elmira closed out the regular season with a 5-2 loss on the road to No. 5/6 nationally-ranked Hobart College. The Statesmen took a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and second periods; however, Elmira’s Jeremy Marginsky ’18 scored twice in a three-and-a-half minute window late in the second period to level the contest at two apiece. Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, Hobart scored three unanswered goals in the final stanza, all but sealing EC’s 5-2 defeat.
Pretorius Debuts for Purple and Gold
Injuries to Elmira’s Sandro Aeschlimann ’19 and Sal Magliocco ’17 put the Soaring Eagles in quite a predicament for Saturday’s bout with nationally-ranked Hobart. Without one second of ice time to his name, first-year netminder Charl Pretorius ’19 was thrown into the mix as EC’s latest fixture between the pipes. The South African national did well in his collegiate debut, making 38 saves, including a 16save effort in a one-goal second period. His 38 saves are the most made by an EC starting freshman goaltender in over 16 years.
Four-Goal Mark
Utica College PIONEERS (12-9-4, 6-6-3 ECAC West) Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 Utica Memorial Auditorium -- Utica, NY -- 7:00 p.m.
2015-16 SCHEDULE (11-11-3, 4-9-2 ECAC WEST)
Day NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB.
Date 6 7 13 14 20 21 28 29 8 11 12 8 9 12 15 16 22 29 30 5 6 12 13 16 19 24 27 5
Opponent Neumann* Manhattanville* Utica* Nazareth* #11 Hobart* #11 Hobart* #6 Amherst #3 Babson SUNY Potsdam Wesleyan #8 Trinity (Conn.) The College at Brockport #4/8 SUNY Geneseo Buffalo State Salve Regina^ Curry^ Manhattanville* Neumann* Neumann* Nazareth* Nazareth* Utica* Utica* Manhattanville* Hobart* Utica ECAC West Semifinals ECAC West Championship
Time-Result L, 6-7 OT L, 1-4 L, 3-4 W, 5-2 L, 3-5 W, 4-3 W, 6-3 W, 5-3 W, 5-3 W, 6-1 L, 1-2 OT W, 4-3 W, 5-1 T, 2-2 OT L, 1-3 W, 4-1 L, 4-5 OT T, 2-2 OT L, 3-5 L, 2-4 W, 4-3 OT T, 2-2 OT W, 3-2 OT L, 2-5 L, 2-5 7:00 p.m. TBA TBA
Home contests are bolded *Denotes ECAC West contest ^Games played on Martha’s Vineyard
ElmiraCollegeAthletics @ECSoaringEagles ECSportsInfo
ECSoaringEagles
One thing has become very clear for Elmira this season - score four or more goals, and a win is more than likely going to be the outcome. The Soaring Eagles are 10-2-0 this season when scoring four or more goals and just 1-9-3 when scoring three or fewer.
Shinkaruk Leads ECAC West
Carter Shinkaruk ’16 owns the nation’s fourth-highest goals per game average at 0.83. His scoring average is slightly higher than the next closest ECAC West skater, Neumann’s Mike Davis, who is averaging 0.80 goals per game; although, Davis does lead the league in total goals at 20 compared with Shinkaruk’s 19.
Elmira on the Road
Of Elmira’s 11 wins this season, only four have occurred away from its home ice at the Murray Athletic Center. The Soaring Eagles are 4-7-2 away from home this season and are winless in their last five road games (0-4-1). Although Elmira struggled to find wins on the road, scoring was never an issue. The Soaring Eagles scored 39 goals in their 13 road games, while their opponents logged 40. Of EC’s 39 goals, 10 came from the blade of Shinkaruk.
Not Since 1990-91
Elmira will look to add to its ECAC West conference-leading 10 tournament titles this season, but to do so, the Soaring Eagles will need to win three playoff games in a row. The last time Elmira won an ECAC West Conference Championship, while starting its playoff run in the Quarterfinals, dates back to the 1990-91 season.
Familiar Playoff Foe
For a third year in a row, Elmira will face Utica in an ECAC West playoff game. The Soaring Eagles have won the previous two matchups, one in the 2014 championship game and the other in last year’s quarterfinal matchup. In total, the two teams have faced each other four times in the conference tournament, with Elmira claiming wins in three of those contests. Additionally, Elmira is 1-1 against the Pioneers on Utica’s home ice. Utica’s lone win dates back to the 2004-05 season, when the Pioneers bounced EC from the tournament in a 4-3 double overtime victory.
Scouting Utica
The third-seeded Pioneers are 3-1-1 in their last five games, with two of those contests versus Elmira; UC went 0-1-1 in those two games, both of which were played at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena. Utica owns a victory over the Soaring Eagles this season, a 4-3 win at the Utica Memorial Auditorium back on November 13, 2015. That victory was one of 10 home wins this season for the Pioneers, who are 10-2-2 at the “Aud.” Special teams, specifically UC’s penalty kill, has been a key factor in the team’s success this season. Utica boasts the nation’s second-best penalty kill unit, as the Pioneers have denied opponents on 85-of-94 chances for a success rate of 90.4-percent. On an individual level, Utica uses a balanced offensive attack that features nine players with 10-or-more points; however, no one on this year’s Utica squad has scored more than 10 goals. Rookie netminder Michael Fredrick has been spectacular in net with a .933 save percentage and a 2.11 goals allowed average.
Sports Information: Don Sherman (dsherman@elmira.edu); Dan DeCaria (ddecaria@elmira.edu); Travis Larner (tlarner@elmira.edu) Phone: 607.735.1131 Fax: 607.735.1768 Website: athletics.elmira.edu Address: One Park Place, Elmira, NY 14901