ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's ice hockey team has released its 2017-18 schedule, which marks the beginning of a new chapter in the storied history of the Soaring Eagles, who are one of nine charter members in the newly-formed United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC).

The 2017-18 regular-season schedule is comprised of 25 games, 16 of which will pit head coach Tim Crowley's squad against UCHC competition and 11 which will take place at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena in Pine Valley, New York.

Ten of EC's opponents on the docket this season qualified for their respective conference tournaments last year, including three of the teams that participated in the last-ever ECAC West Tournament. In addition, four of this year's non-conference opponents participated in the NCAA Division III Tournament, including four-time defending champion Plattsburgh State (Nov. 26/Jan. 8) and runner-up Adrian (Nov. 26/Jan. 7).

Of the 11 games to be played during the 2017 portion of the schedule, only four will be hosted by the Soaring Eagles at the MAC. The season kicks off with three consecutive road games, starting with a non-conference tilt on Saturday, November 4, at Oswego State at 3:00 p.m. The following weekend, EC will open UCHC play against King's (Pa.) (Nov. 11-12), a first-year program that will call the Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston, Pennsylvania, its home.

On Friday, November 17, the Soaring Eagles will continue conference play with the first of a two-game set versus Stevenson in its home opener, with the puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. It will mark only the third all-time meeting against the Mustangs, a 2017 CHC Tournament semifinalist, and the first since January of 2014. The weekend series against Stevenson will conclude the following afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at the MAC.

After missing the annual Cardinal-Panther Classic last season for the first time since it was formed in 2005, the Soaring Eagles are returning to one of the nation's most competitive tournaments in 2017. On Saturday, November 25, EC will head to Plattsburgh, New York, to square off against fellow NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist Middlebury in a neutral-site bout. The following day, the Purple and Gold will face Plattsburgh State, a long-time ECAC West opponent with which Elmira formed one of the fiercest rivalries in the nation, or Adrian, the 2017 national runner-up that knocked EC out of title contention in the opening round of the last year's NCAA tournament.

The Elmira women resume UCHC play with another trip to Pennsylvania, this time for a pair of contests against Chatham (Dec. 1-2) in the second-to-last series of the calendar year. The Soaring Eagles will migrate home to welcome the always-tough NESCAC affiliate Amherst (Dec. 9-10) to the MAC for a pair of non-league games to close the books on 2017. Amherst, which recently elected Mammoths as the official college mascot, capped off the 2016-17 campaign ranked 10th in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III Poll.

The New Year begins as the previous one ended, with another pair of important non-conference matchups against nationally-ranked competition. If the Soaring Eagles do not meet the Bulldogs of previously No. 2-ranked Adrian in November at the Cardinal-Panther Classic, they are guaranteed a re-match of last year's NCAA Tournament quarterfinal on Sunday, January 7, in the first leg of the eighth annual East-West Hockey Classic, in Northfield, Vermont. The following day, EC will look to flex its muscle when it takes on the host Norwich Cadets, who reached the NCAA Third-Place Game last season, or their long-time rivals from Plattsburgh State, who will be competing under the Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) banner this year.

The second-half of the regular season is almost exclusively against UCHC opponents. Of the remaining 12 games on Elmira's regular-season schedule, only two are against non-league foes. The first is a home contest versus Norwich on Saturday, January 20, at 3:00 p.m., which is followed by a road tilt in Hartford, Connecticut, against Trinity (Conn.) on Tuesday, January 23, at 7:30 p.m.

Prior to the final non-conference games, the Soaring Eagles will skate opposite the Pioneers of Utica in a home-and-home UCHC series on Friday, January 12, and Saturday, January 13, with the latter being played at the MAC. Lebanon Valley, which will play its second varsity season this year, will then host the Purple and Gold for the first-ever meetings between the two programs on Saturday, January 27, and Sunday, January 28.

After returning from Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Soaring Eagles will leave only Elmira one more time, as five of the final six games will be on home ice. February begins with a home-and-home series against William Smith (Feb. 3-4), with the Herons traveling south from Geneva, New York, for the opener on Saturday, February 3, at 3:00 p.m., as part of EC's annual Athletics Alumni Weekend.

Over the next two weekends, Elmira will look to secure one of the top seeds in the UCHC, as it ends the 2017-18 regular season with home conference series against Manhattanville (Feb. 9-10) and Neumann (Feb. 16-17). Fans will recognize the Knights of Neumann from years of competition inside the ECAC West, but the Valiants should come as no strangers either; from 2002-2014, the Soaring Eagles met Manhattanville on an annual basis.

Schedule Highlights

• Elmira's regular-season schedule consists of 25 games (11 home; 12 away; 2 neutral).
• The season starts on Saturday, November 4, at 3:30 p.m. in Oswego, New York, against the Lakers of Oswego State.
• The Soaring Eagles will compete in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) this season.
• UCHC play begins on Saturday, November 11, on the road against first-year program King's (Pa.).
• The meetings with new conference foes King's (Pa.) and Lebanon Valley will be the first-ever for Elmira.
• After three straight road games, the Soaring Eagles will skate opposite Stevenson in their home opener at the Murray Athletic Center on Friday, November 17, at 7:00 p.m.
• Four of the eight teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season are on EC's 2017-18 schedule.
• EC's non-conference opponents combined for a .747 winning percentage a year ago and six of the seven were nationally-ranked at some point in 2016-17.
• Although the Purple and Gold will no longer play Plattsburgh State as a conference opponent, EC will have an opportunity to continue the rivalry at the Cardinal-Panther Classic and the East-West Hockey Classic.
• Non-conference opponent breakdown: NCHA (1), NEHC (1), NESCAC (3), NEWHL (2).

Games to Watch
Elmira at Oswego State – Saturday, November 4 (3:00 p.m.)
The Purple and Gold open the 2017-18 season with a familiar face in Oswego State, another former ECAC West foe which will skate under the NEWHL banner this season. Although the Soaring Eagles have never lost to the Lakers in any of their previous meetings, the EC faithful should not overlook this early-season matchup. Oswego did tie Elmira in the second half of their two-game set a year ago and was the only team to hand eventual national champion Plattsburgh State (28-1-1) a loss.

Cardinal-Panther Classic at Plattsburgh State – Saturday, November 25 & Sunday, November 26 (TBA)
The Soaring Eagles participated in the first 11 Cardinal-Panther Classics from 2005-2015, and after a one-year hiatus, Elmira will return the ultra-competitive tournament. This year the tournament will feature the four-time defending champions from Plattsburgh State, the national runners-up from Adrian and the reigning NESCAC champs from Middlebury. A strong showing from the Soaring Eagles will surely put the country's top teams on notice early in the season.

East-West Hockey Classic at Norwich – Sunday, January 7 & Monday, January 8 (TBA)
Coming off of the aforementioned Cardinal-Panther Classic and a two-game set against perennial power Amherst, Elmira will be battled-tested by this point midway through the season, but should also have fresh legs following an extended Christmas break. That should bode well for the Soaring Eagles, who have their eyes set on avenging their NCAA quarterfinal loss to Adrian in the first round of the East-West Hockey Classic. And while EC is not guaranteed a game against Plattsburgh State in either tournament, hockey fans will most definitely hope to see the two powerhouses collide on this weekend if they do not meet in November.

Elmira vs. Manhattanville – Friday, November 9 & Saturday, November 10 (7:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m.)
This former non-conference series will be renewed in 2017-18, although now it will count towards the UCHC standings. Last year Manhattanville finished with a 17-9-2 overall record and flirted with the national rankings on a few occasions, before advancing to the NEHC Tournament Championship. The Valiants will travel to the MAC for the penultimate UCHC series of the season and a pair of wins on this weekend could prove to be last points the Soaring Eagles need lock-up the top seed in the conference's postseason tournament.