Pine Valley, NY – The Elmira College Women's Ice Hockey team lost its first conference game in a tight contest to SUNY Plattsburgh, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon. This was the first loss for the Soaring Eagles since October 28, 2011 ending a 10-game winning streak. The win improves the Cardinals to 13-3-2 overall and 11-0-2 in ECAC West play, while the loss drops the Soaring Eagles to 15-2-1 overall and 10-1-0 in conference competition.

Halfway into the first period, Plattsburgh tallied their first goal as Justine Fisher scored off the feed from Jordan Caldwell. The goal was scored off a rebound flying over EC goalie Lauren Sullivan '13 (Toronto, ONT -- Markham Stouffville). A little over a minute later, the Cardinals rallied to score their second goal of the afternoon on a breakaway by Morgan MacInnis. The goal was assisted by Teal Gove and Shannon Stewart. The period ended with the Soaring Eagles trailing by two.

The second period was a stalemate with neither the Soaring Eagles nor the Cardinals being able to score a goal. Early in the third, Elmira earned their first goal just after a five-on-three power play ended. Lindsay Mitchell '12 (Arnold, MD -- NAHA) netted the goal off a rebound from a shot by Ashley Ryan '15 (North Chili, NY -- Rochester Edge). This left Elmira trailing by one with plenty of time left to even the game up. Five minutes later, the Cardinals responded with a goal of their own on a five-on-three power play. The goal was scored by Shannon Stewart with an assist from Allison Era.

Late in the third, the Soaring Eagles pulled their goaltender looking to gain a man advantage. Right off the faceoff, Plattsburgh's Helen Giroux shot the puck down the ice into the open net. She was assisted by Justine Fisher. The empty net goal sealed the 4-1 victory for the Cardinals. EC outshot the Cardinals 45-31, but could not convert on the offensive side. Sullivan finished with 27 saves in net for the Soaring Eagles, while Sydney Aveson stopped 44 shots for the Cardinals.

The Purple and Gold return to action tomorrow to take on SUNY Plattsburgh once again and look to recuperate from its loss. The puck drops at 3:00 p.m.