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Pine Valley, NY -- In front of a crowd of 1,159, the Elmira College men's ice hockey team (1-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC West) won their season opener as EC defeated number 14 nationally ranked Neumann University (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC West), 4-2.  Elmira's Jarryd ten Vaanholt '16 led the Soaring Eagles by scoring two of the game's opening goals, one of which would hold up as the game winner. 

Tonight's win marks Elmira's second straight home opening win over the Knights and also EC's first season opening victory since the 2008-09 season.  Tonight also marks the seventh straight year Elmira has opened ECAC West Conference play with a victory.

Elmira put two early goals on the scoreboard to take a 2-0 advantage in the first three minutes of the game.  ten Vaanholt got things started on a power play opportunity when he cleaned up a rebounded shot by Josh Burnell '15, to score Elmira's first goal of the season.  Burnell and Greg Whittle '17 were credited with assists on the EC goal, which was scored just 2:31 into the game. 

Seventeen seconds later one of Elmira's newest members, Max Balaban '16, put the Soaring Eagles ahead 2-0.  Balaban made the most of a pileup in front of the net as he wristed a shot past a diving Neumann goaltender for the score.  Andrew Ciampichini '15 earned an assist on the goal as his initial shot created the scrum in front of the Neumann net. 

The second period saw minimal offense as both teams battled in the middle of the ice for the majority of play.  However, Elmira would make the most of their chances as ten Vaanholt netted his second power play goal of the night to put the Soaring Eagles ahead 3-0.  Captain Eric David '15 set up the score by sending the puck ahead to a streak Burnell, creating a two-on-one situation.  From there, Burnell sent a pass across the ice to ten Vaanholt who buried the one-time shot for the score.  EC's goal would hold up through the end of the period as they carried a 3-0 advantage into the final intermission.

In the final period of play, Neumann made things interesting as they picked up a pair of goals at the 7:50 and 16:12 marks, cutting the EC lead to just one. 

With regulation coming to a close, Neumann would eventually pull their goalie, opting for the extra skater.  EC would take advantage of the empty net as Liam Burtt '16 lofted a pass to Michael Collins '16 who pushed the puck into the net, giving Elmira a 4-2 edge.  The goal from Collins would be all the cushion Elmira would need as they went on to take the season opener 4-2. 

Elmira goaltender, Sal Magliocco '17 made his career debut between the pipes tonight.  The rookie from Roslyn, NY did not disappoint as he came up with big save after big save, stopping a total of 30 shots en route to his first collegiate win. 

The Purple and Gold will look to continue their winnings ways tomorrow when they host ECAC West opponent Manhattanville College.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center in Pine Valley, NY.