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Utica, NY -- For the second time in four years, the Elmira College men's ice hockey team is the class of the ECAC West Conference. The Soaring Eagles used four unanswered goals to turn what was a 2-1 deficit into an eventual 5-2 victory over the ECAC West Tournament's top seed, and number 13 nationally ranked, Utica College. Elmira now has 10 ECAC West Championships, the most of any ECAC West institution, breaking a tie at the top with former conference foe, RIT.

This is the second time that EC has encountered Utica in the ECAC West Championship game, the last coming in the 2005-06 season. The Soaring Eagles got the best of the Pioneers in that game as well, as Elmira skated away with a 3-2 victory and their eighth ECAC West Championship. Utica is now 0-2 against EC in the championship game and 0-3 in title games overall. In fact, the Pioneers have struggled in the ECAC West Tournament throughout the years, having lost nine of their last 10 tournament games, a stretch which started with their loss to the Soaring Eagles in that 2006 title game.

Ryan deMelo '15 was one of four Elmira players named to the ECAC West All-Tournament team, joining last week's hero, Brian Depp '16, Jesper Strale '14, and Eric David '15. deMelo faced pressure from the Pioneers all night, but the junior held strong, making 34 saves for the victory. For his stellar play between the pipes throughout the tournament, which included a combined 72 saves, deMelo was named the ECAC West Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The theme of the first two periods was power play opportunities. There were a combined nine power play opportunities for the teams in the first 40 minutes of play, with three goals coming from them.

The Pioneers were the first to strike in tonight's title game as Ridge Garbutt netted Utica's only power play goal of the game just under five minutes into the first period. The Soaring Eagles answered right back, relying on one of their key strengths all season, their power play unit.

Just under three minutes after Utica's goal, Andrew Ciampicini '15 scored the equalizer for Elmira. Ciampicini would fire home only his second goal of the season, but certainly his most important one, after receiving a pass from Greg Whittle '16. Each team would have another power play opportunity towards the end of the period, but the score was tied 1-1 after the first 20 minutes of play.

The first 10 minutes of the second period of the championship game was played fairly even as the game's flow was proving that EC and Utica were the two best teams in the conference. The Pioneers, however, sought to come out on top for once and retook the lead after Mikhail Bushinski scored his second goal of the season.

EC had a few opportunities shortly after that score to answer right back, however, their attempts were turned away by Utica goaltender, Nick Therrien. The Soaring Eagles did breakthrough for the game-tying goal with 3:15 remaining in the second period after Jesper Strale '14 fired home his 11th goal of the year and sixth power play goal of the season. Strale's goal came with 41 seconds remaining in Elmira's fourth power play opportunity of the night after being on the receiving end of a sequence of passes from Michael Collins '16 and Carter Shinkaruk '16.

The Purple and Gold had an opportunity to really blow open the game late in the second period after being awarded a 5-on-3 situation. The men nearly made it a two-goal advantage with a minute left on the clock, but Strale's shot, which had eyes for the back of the net, was turned away at the last-second by Therrien. Utica was able to kill both penalties with no further damage as the teams went into the final intermission tied 2-2.

The third period was dominated by the Soaring Eagles as EC exploded for three goals to pull away from the Pioneers.

The first of the three goals came from the stick of Shinkaruk. Elmira's Tommy Sumi '16 battled two Utica defenders to jar the puck loose to Liam Burtt '16 who then sent a shot towards the net. Burtt's shot was saved by Therrien, however, the goaltender could not corral the rebound as Shinkaruk came flying in and cleaned up the mess. The sophomore was able to find enough space between the near post and Therrien's stick to score the goal and give the Soaring Eagles the 3-2 lead just 3:36 into the third period, a lead that they would not relinquish.

Much of the next 10 minutes of game time would be played in EC's defensive zone as Utica steadily increased their offensive pressure. As the clock ticked below five minutes to play, the Pioneers shifted to a more aggressive fore-check with the hope of netting the equalizer, however, the maneuver backfired for Utica as one deflection from Elmira's Depp changed the entire course of the game.

Depp was able to get his stick on a Utica pass near the blue line and kicked it into second gear to start the Soaring Eagle rush. Depp, who skated quickly into the offensive zone, was joined by Alexander Taulien '17 on the 2-on-1 situation. Depp fed the puck to Taulien in the middle who quickly sent it back to Depp in the right slot. Depp, who had a clear path to the net thanks to Taulien's aggressive attack of the Pioneer defense, fired home his fourth goal of the ECAC West Tournament and gave EC a much needed two-goal lead with just 4:35 left in regulation.

Utica, realizing that their title hopes were slipping away, continued to press on the offensive end. The Pioneers even pulled Therrien from net with 2:10 left in regulation, giving Utica an extended period with an extra attacker on the ice.

Things got a little more interesting with 1:27 remaining on the clock when Strale was whistled for a tripping penalty, putting EC on the penalty kill for the remainder of the game. The Soaring Eagles handled the 6-on-4 situation like the champs they were soon to become as they got in shooting lanes, sacrificed their bodies for blocks, and limited the number of clean looks Utica had on deMelo. Their efforts were rewarded with 55 seconds left when Eric David '15 intercepted a pass and fed it up to Collins who skated into the offensive zone and fired home the empty-netter to all but clinch Elmira's 10th ECAC West Championship.

The final horn sounded, signaling EC's 5-2 victory and giving the Soaring Eagles a chance to celebrate. Elmira's bench erupted as the players rushed the ice to congratulate each other, launching gloves and other equipment in the air. Following the brief celebration, EC gathered for the trophy ceremony where the Soaring Eagles were crowned the 2014 ECAC West Tournament Champions.

The Elmira College men's ice hockey team will wait to see if they have done enough this season to constitute an at-large bid into the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. The ECAC West Conference does not have an autobid on the men's side for their tournament champion, so the Soaring Eagles' fate rests in the hands of the NCAA selection committee. The 12-team field will be announced tomorrow evening.