College Hockey Stats Box Score

Plattsburgh, NY -- For the second consecutive season, the Elmira College women's ice hockey team handed No. 1 Plattsburgh State their first loss of the season, downing the Cardinals, 2-1. The win keeps EC undefeated in ECAC West play and puts the Soaring Eagles in sole possession of first place in the conference at 11-0-0.
 
Plattsburgh State came into today's contest riding a 28-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season and had not lost at Stafford Ice Arena since February 8, 2012, a 40-game span. Both of those streaks came to an end behind timely goals from Brooke Wilgosh '15 and Cassidy Delainey '15 and a career performance between the pipes by Kyle Nelson '17.
 
Wilgosh put home her second goal of the season just four minutes into the second period, then with 8:27 left in the game, Delainey netted her NCAA-leading 11th power-play goal of the year to break a 1-1 tie. Nelson tallied a career-high 36 saves and held the number one offense in Division III women's ice hockey to just one goal.
 
The Cardinals had the Soaring Eagles on their heels in the early goings, but a few near-misses kept the game scoreless and allowed EC to settle in. Once that happened, the play began to shift to the other end of the rink as Elmira started to assert themselves offensively.

Olivia Nystrom '16 had a shot clang off the post and just minutes later Ashton Hogan '15 had a golden opportunity to put EC on the board first. Hogan had a rebound ricochet in her direction and a wide open net in front of her with Plattsburgh goalie Camille Leonard out of position. Unfortunately for Hogan, she was unable to cleanly gather the puck and her shot attempt went just wide of the net. Plattsburgh had a few chances of their own, but neither team was able to capitalize as the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes of play.
 
Elmira's offense was having a hard time getting things going in the opening minutes of the second period, but their fortunes changed with one shot from their star defensemen, Brooke Wilgosh '15. Wilgosh carried the puck into EC's offensive zone and fired a hard shot on net. Her shot soared past Leonard and gave the Purple and Gold a 1-0 lead. Getting credit for the assist on the goal was Sydney Fischer '17.
 
Minutes later, a Nelson roughing penalty put Plattsburgh on the power play for the first time in the game. The Cardinals capitalized on the power-play opportunity just 37 seconds into the man-up situation as a cross-ice pass bounced off Rachel Grampp's stick and into the back of the net. The score remained 1-1 as the teams headed into the third period.
 
The first 10 minutes of the third period brought a few Plattsburgh chances, but Nelson and the Soaring Eagle defense stood up to the challenge to keep the game tied. Then, with 9:26 on the clock, Melissa Sheeran was called for a tripping penalty and put Elmira's second-ranked power-play unit on the ice for the third time. The third time was the charm as Delainey's went top-shelf on her one-timer to put EC up 2-1 with 8:27 to play. Setting-up the power-play score were Hogan and Erin Weston '15.
 
Nelson was whistled for her second penalty of the game with 5:26 on the clock, giving Plattsburgh another opportunity to tie the game. The Cardinals' golden chance came about 30 seconds into the power play as Kayla Meneghin had the puck on her stick just outside of the crease with Nelson on the other side of the net. Nelson slid over just in the nick of time, turning away Meneghin's shot with her pad and preserving Elmira's one-goal lead. Plattsburgh had an extra attacker for the final 33 seconds of the game, and even played 6-on-4 for the final 20 seconds of the contest, but EC held off the charge to secure the 2-1 victory.
 
Both Elmira and Plattsburgh return to the Stafford Ice Arena tomorrow, February 1st to complete the season series. Tomorrow's game is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.