Geneva, NY – The Elmira College Men's Ice Hockey team held off a late surge by Hobart College en route to a 6-4 victory Friday evening on the road. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 14-6-2 and 7-1-1 in ECAC West play, while the loss drops the Statesmen to 11-10-1 overall and 2-6-1 in conference competition.

 

The Soaring Eagles were the first to get on the board at the 10:14 mark as Jesper Strale '14 (Uppsala, Sweden -- Springfield Pic's) took a pass from Christian Morissette '12 (Beaconsfield, QUE -- RPI) and ripped it past Hobart goalie Martin Ausserhofer. EC would strike again just three minutes later as Eric David '15 (Dorval, QUE -- Pembroke Lumber Kings) would score to give Elmira a 2-0 lead. Dylan Herold '14 (Delta, BC -- Burnaby Express) and Mike Kirby '12 (Delta, BC -- Melford Mustangs) had assists on the goal. Elmira continued to apply pressure to Hobart, and they were rewarded with yet another first period goal at the 16:01 mark. Rick Acorn '12 (Barrie, ONT -- Koochiching Terriers) tookpasses from Brendan Sanders '12 (Mississauga, ONT -- Vaughan Vipers) and Darcy Vaillancourt '12 (Bonfield, ONT -- Innisfil Lakers) and slipped it past Ausserhofer. The Soaring Eagles would take the 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

 

Elmira College came out strong in the second period scoring 1:11 in. Colin Hoey '13 (Doylestown, PA -- New England Huskies) lit the lamp with Morissette tallying his second assist on the day. At the 3:45 mark Vaillancourt tallied a marker to help EC go up 5-0 with John Clewlow '12 (Brampton, ONT -- Dixie Bee Hives) and Kevin Willer '12 (Toronto, ONT -- North York Rangers) tallying helpers on the play. With the goal, Vaillancourt has now reached his 100^th point as a Soaring Eagle. Less than three minutes later Hoey registered his second goal of the day with Strale tallying the assist. Hobart would finally respond to the EC offensive firepower by scoring two goals of its own.   

 

In the third and final period, the Soaring Eagles held off the Statesmen until the end of the period. Hobart scored two goals within the last two minutes of regulation hoping to complete the comeback, but EC held off the Statesmen and took the 6-4 win. Darren MacDonald '13 (Stittsville, ONT -- Nepean Raiders) picked up his 10th win of the season and made 34 saves in net.  Ausserhofer and Nick Broadwater combined to stop 27 shots in net for the Statesmen.

 

The Elmira College Men's Ice Hockey team returns to action tomorrow at home against Hobart College in honor of the Wounded Warrior Project. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m., while the doors open at 6:00 p.m. 

 

Elmira 6 Hobart 4