ELMIRA COLLEGE WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY GAME NOTES
7 ECAC West Championships
11 NCAA Tournament Appearances
THIS WEEKEND’S OPPONENT
Buffalo State BENGALS (15-4-0, 9-3-0 ECAC West)
3 NCAA National Championships
Last Time Out
The Elmira women hit a big snag in their run through ECAC West play this past weekend, dropping a pair of contests to top-ranked Plattsburgh State at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena. It was a slow start doomed the Purple and Gold on Saturday, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead during the first 17 minutes of play. Trailing 4-0 midway through the third period, EC came to life, scoring twice in the span of 1:06 to get back in the contest. Sarah Hughson ’18 punched in a loose puck near the back post to open the scoring, while Shannon Strawinski ’19 scored a sparkler of a goal on a partial break, setting up an exciting conclusion. Elmira was later awarded a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage with back-to-back Plattsburgh penalties; however, the Cardinals penalty kill rose to the occasion to stymie the comeback in its tracks. Sunday afternoon was all about the special teams, as Plattsburgh went 4-for-6 on the power play and added a shorthanded goal to run away with the contest in the third period.
Rookie Returns
It is safe to say that Elmira’s excellent crop of first-year players have had a major influence in helping the Soaring Eagles not miss a beat coming off its run to the National Championship Game a season ago. EC rookies have shown up on the Friday, February 5th, 2016 score sheet in a big way, combining for 23 goals and 36 assists. With the 59 points on the year, the Class of 2019 has accounted for 34.7-percent of the team’s total Buffalo State Ice Arena -- Buffalo, NY -- 4:00 p.m. scoring. EC rookies continued to play a big role in the offense over this past weekend, as Shannon Strawinski ’19 netted a goal, while Kristin Chivers ’19 and Katie Granato ’19 recorded assists on Saturday. Granato followed that up with the lone Saturday, February 6th, 2016 Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena -- Pine Valley, NY -- 3:00 p.m. Elmira goal on Sunday.
2015-16 SCHEDULE (15-3-1, 10-2-0 ECAC WEST)
Day OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN. FEB. MAR.
Date 31 1 13 14 21 22 27 28 5 6 2 9 12 16 17 22 23 30 31 5 6 13 14 19 20 27 5 6 12
Opponent #6 Adrian #4 Norwich SUNY Cortland* SUNY Cortland* Utica* Utica* #3 Middlebury #9 Gustavus Adolphus SUNY Potsdam* SUNY Potsdam* Williams #9 Norwich #3/6 Amherst Neumann* Neumann* Chatham* Chatham* #1 Plattsburgh State* #1 Plattsburgh State* Buffalo State* Buffalo State* William Smith* William Smith* Oswego State* Oswego State* ECAC West Quarterfinals ECAC West Semifinals ECAC West Championship NCAA Quarterfinals
Home contests are bolded *Denotes ECAC West contest
ElmiraCollegeAthletics @ECSoaringEagles ECSportsInfo
Chivers Continues to Rank High
Freshman blue-liner Kristin Chivers ’19 continues to rank among the nation’s best Time-Result in terms of both rookie and defenseman scoring. She pushed her point total on the year to 19, adding an assist on Elmira’s first goal on Saturday. The Antioch, IL, L, 1-4 native sits in a tie for fifth nationally among freshmen in point scoring, while her W, 7-2 19 points rank third among all defenders in the country. W, 5-1 Cleaning Up The PK W, 4-0 The Elmira penalty-killing unit has been a strength of the team all season; howW, 4-1 ever, it struggled to gain traction over the weekend against Plattsburgh State. W, 2-1 The Soaring Eagles had been 66-for-70 (94.3-percent) entering the weekend, but W, 3-1 conceded five goals on 10 opportunities to the Cardinals in the two-game set. EC W, 2-1 still ranks 17th in the nation at 88.8-percent on the year; however, the team will W, 5-0 need to sure things up ahead of facing Buffalo State’s 16th-ranked power-play unit, which has hummed at an 18.7-percent clip this season. W, 3-2 W, 2-1 Piku Closing In on Career High W, 2-1 With her primary assist on Granato’s goal on Sunday, Phoebe Piku ’16 moved T, 2-2 OT within one assist of tying her single-season career high of 12, which she set a seaW, 6-2 son ago. She has recorded helpers in five of her last six contests overall. W, 8-0 All-Time Series W, 4-1 Elmira has dominated the all-time series with Buffalo State, posting a 34-1-0 reW, 4-1 cord against its ECAC West counterpart. EC has won eight straight in the series L, 2-4 between the two teams heading into this weekend’s home-and-home. The lone L, 1-7 Buffalo State win was a 4-3 overtime decision during the 2010-11 campaign. 4:00 p.m. Scouting Buffalo State 3:00 p.m. The Bengals are enjoying a season to remember in 2015-16, as the team already 3:00 p.m. has shattered the program’s single-season win record. Buffalo State enters the 4:00 p.m. weekend with a 15-4-0 overall record and a 9-3-0 mark in ECAC West play. The 7:00 p.m. series will have big ECAC West Tournament implications, as Elmira holds just a 3:00 p.m. slim two-point advantage over Buffalo State for the second bye through the tourTBA nament’s opening round. The Bengals opened the year with eight consecutive victories, before falling into a rough patch falling in three straight, which included TBA a series sweep at the hands of Plattsburgh State. Buffalo State has rallied since TBA that point, entering the weekend as winners in seven of its last eight. The BenTBA gals are coming off a two-game sweep of Oswego State by 3-1 and 2-0 margins. Defense has been key for the squad, as it is tied with Elmira for 15th in the nation in scoring defense at 1.68 goals allowed per game. The offense is powered by a sophomore cast, as second-year players occupy six of the top seven spots in terms of points. Erin Gehen paces the group with a 14g-8a-22pts line in 18 appearances this season. Senior Nikki Kirchberger ranks second on the team with nine goals and nine assists; eight of her nine goals have come against ECAC West foes. Sophomore Justine Silva has seen the lion’s share of minutes in the cage this season. She ranks fourth in the nation in save percentage (.951) and seventh in ECSoaringEagles goals against average (1.34).
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