Interview with Coach Saul
Pine Valley, NY -- Ryan deMelo '15 recorded 18 of his 28 saves in the third period to hold off the Utica College Pioneers and lift the Elmira College men's ice hockey team to a 4-3 victory in what was a rematch of the 2014 ECAC West Championship game. The win evens Elmira's overall and ECAC West records to 1-1-1 and gives EC their third consecutive home-opening win.
The first period held few scoring chances early on, but that changed rather quickly as there were three goals scored in the final 4:50 of the opening stanza. EC was the first to get on the board as they took advantage of their second power play opportunity of the night. A series of passes around the ice saw the puck find its way to
Jarryd ten Vaanholt '16 wide-left of the net. ten Vaanholt sent the puck across the ice to
Nick Owen'17 who fired a shot at the net. Owen's shot beat Utica's goalie, Dylan Wells, high over Wells' right shoulder putting Elmira up 1-0.
Greg Whittle '16 also received an assist on the play.
The Soaring Eagles would strike again just a few minutes later. This time, it would be
Jeremy Marginsky '18 would net the goal, the first of his young career. Fellow freshman,
Nick Okada '18 won back possession of the puck in EC's offensive zone and passed it along the boards to
Tommy Sumi '16. Sumi then fired a quick pass to right in front of the net where Marginsky would punch home the one-timer. Elmira's 2-0 lead would not last long, however, as Utica made it a 2-1 game 15 seconds later as Dalton Carter found the back of the net on a power play. The 2-1 lead would hold up until the end of the first period.
Elmira came out firing in the second period as ten Vaanholt would double EC's advantage with his second goal of the season only 46 seconds after the puck drop. ten Vaanholt received a pass near the blue line from
Michael Collins'16 and worked his way into the slot. ten Vaanholt fired a wrist shot on goal, beating Wells glove-side for the score.
Then, only four minutes later, the Soaring Eagles would find themselves up 4-1 after
Carter Shinkaruk '16 scored his first goal of the season. Shinkaruk's score forced Wells out of goal as Utica's Cory Simic took over in net. EC would have an opportunity to add to their lead late in the second period as the Pioneers were whistled for a five-minute major penalty. Despite a number of shots on the power play, the Purple and Gold would not score on the extended power play, and EC would go into the second intermission leading 4-1.
Utica stole the momentum early in the third period with their second goal of the evening with 17:30 left to play. Elmira's defense, backed by a stout deMelo, would fend off the Pioneer attack for over 12 minutes, but Utica would make it just a one-goal game with under five minutes to play. Trailing by one with 1:17 remaining, the Pioneers would pull Simic and put an extra attacker on the ice. Utica took five shots in the final 1:17 of regulation, but three saves by deMelo and two blocked shots by Elmira defensemen helped secure EC's 4-3 victory.
The Soaring Eagles will return to action next weekend as they travel to Geneva, NY for a pair of ECAC West Conference games against Hobart College on Friday and Saturday, November 21st and 22nd. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
