Elmira, NY – The Elmira College fall sports teams concluded the month of September and kicked off October with a road heavy slate of games this past week. Men's soccer and field hockey continued their hot play of late, while women's soccer had its winning streak snapped over the weekend. Women's volleyball had an up-and-down week, as did women's tennis. Cross country continued its busy stretch ahead of its championships meets in the month of October. Rounding out the week's action was the Soaring Eagles men's and women's golf teams, who posted some solid performances in their respective tournaments over the weekend.
 
Headlines for the Week Ahead
 
Golf Hosts Fall Invitational on Tuesday
After inclement weather postponed the tournament this past Tuesday, the Elmira College men's and women's golf teams will take a second crack at things this week when it is slated to host the annual Elmira College Fall Invitational on Tuesday, October 6^th, at Elmira Country Club. Conditions look to be ideal for scoring with light breezes and temperatures in the mid-60's tomorrow. Play is set to begin with a shotgun start at 10:00 a.m.
 
Women's Tennis Celebrates Senior Day on Sunday
The Elmira College women's tennis team is set to celebrate Senior Day on Sunday when it concludes its season with a weekend double header against Houghton College and Alfred University. The Soaring Eagles will celebrate Senior Day festivities before their match against the Saxons on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The program will honor Caitlin Dwyer '16, Ellen Plowman '16, Stephanie Tock '16, and Ayaka Yoshino '16.
 
Field Hockey Returns Home
The Elmira College field hockey team has been road warriors during its recent stretch. After concluding their four-game road swing this coming Saturday against Ithaca College, the squad will return home to face Washington & Jefferson on Sunday afternoon. The game will be the Purple and Gold's first home game in over three weeks.
 
Baseball Set to Host Fall Scrimmage Doubleheader
The Elmira College baseball program has been busily working through its fall practice slate over the past few weeks. The program will now look to the highlight of its fall workouts when it faces Finger Lakes Community College in a doubleheader on Saturday, October 10^th. First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
 
A Look Back on the Week That Was…
 
Men's Soccer Stretches Unbeaten Streak to Five With 2-0 Week
The Elmira men's soccer team is on quite the roll over the past few weeks, scoring significant results after a slow start to the season. The Soaring Eagles picked it up to another level this past week, scoring a pair of thrilling victories. EC returned to non-conference play on Wednesday evening when it took on Marywood University in a rescheduled game. The Pacers jumped out to an early lead in the 13^th minute and added another marker just seconds before the halftime break. However, the Purple and Gold rallied for three goals in the second half to secure a thrilling comeback victory. Michael Bryant '17 jump started the comeback effort with his ninth of the season, while Aidan Gray '19 equalized the game in the 71^st minute, tapping home a corner feed for his first collegiate goal. Tony Barraco '18 capped the victory with a fabulous goal, curling a corner kick inside the far post with just over three-minutes left to play. The Soaring Eagles continued their scoring ways on Saturday when the team secured a huge Empire 8 Conference victory in a 4-2 win at Utica College. Entering the second half knotted at 1-1, Gray and Bryant combined for three goals in the second stanza to score its first road victory at Utica since 2009. Elmira is tied with Stevens for fourth in the Empire 8 standings with five points apiece.
 
For more information on EC Men's Soccer, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Field Hockey Stretches Winning Streak to Three With 2-0 Week
The Elmira College field hockey has been on one of its best runs in the entire history of the program in recent weeks. The team continued its hot run of play with a pair of victories in non-conference play this past week. The Soaring Eagles showed their resiliency, contending with monsoon conditions to best Keystone College 2-1 on Tuesday evening. The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 first half lead when Alli Gilbert '16 carried possession nearly 50 yards, weaving through the majority of the Giants defense, before ripping home a shot for her second goal in as many games. Megan Brain added a big insurance tally in the second half, while Megan Rebusmen '17 stonewalled a furious comeback by the home side with seven saves in relief of starter Julie Hockenberger '18. Flying high entering the weekend, the Soaring Eagles turned in their second shutout of the season on Saturday in a 3-0 blanking of Oswego State. Gilbert stretched her goal scoring streak to three games, while tallying at least one point in the last seven games overall, to get Elmira on the board. Julia Derco '17, who scored her first collegiate goal just a week ago in the victory over Hartwick College, added to her recent scoring binge with a pair of goals off the penalty corner. The Soaring Eagles three-game winning streak is the longest the program has seen since securing five straight victories during the 2002 campaign.
 
For more information on EC Field Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Volleyball Up-and-Down in 2-3 Week
It has been a rollercoaster season for the Elmira College women's volleyball team thus far. The highs and lows continued for the Soaring Eagles this past week, as the team posted a 2-3 record. The Purple and Gold opened the week with a dominating straight sets victory over Alfred University to even their Empire 8 Conference record at 2-2. However, Elmira was not able to parlay that result into its matches this weekend at the Hartwick Tournament. The Soaring Eagles dropped both matches against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the United States Coast Guard Academy on Friday. The tough results continued on Saturday, when the Soaring Eagles fell to Union College in straight sets. However, the team picked up a big comeback victory over SUNY Delhi to cap the tournament on a winning note. Things looked bleak for Elmira after dropping the first two sets against the Broncos; however, the Soaring Eagles showed incredible grit to take the next three sets in dominating fashion [25-12, 25-10, 15-8]. Ashley Heiman '16 continued her strong play of late, leading the team in kills in three of the five matches on the week, including a match-high 13 in the thrilling comeback victory over SUNY Delhi.
 
For more information on EC Women's Volleyball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Tennis Suffers Heartbreaker at Nazareth College
The Elmira College women's tennis team opened the week with a 6-3 victory over non-conference foe Oswego State on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Soaring Eagles could not carry the momentum into a must-win match against Nazareth College on Thursday afternoon. Elmira went up 2-1 through doubles play, securing wins in both the first and second positions. Ayaka Yoshino '16 secured a big victory in first singles, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-0, but unfortunately the Golden Flyers would take the remaining five singles matches to fall 3-6. Unfortunately, with the loss, Elmira was eliminated from contention for the final berth to the Empire 8 Championships. With the perfect 4-0 week, Yoshino now sits with 69 total career victories, just one win shy of tying Olivia Garcia '05 for the program record.
 
For more information on EC Women's Tennis, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Golf Finishes Eighth at ECAC Mid-Atlantic Fall Championships
The Elmira College men's golf team continued its slate with one of its most competitive tournaments of the fall when it traveled to Ravenwood Golf Club for the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Fall Championships. The Soaring Eagles were consistent as a team, carding an opening round 330 and a second round 332; however, St. John Fisher College dominated to take home the team title shooting just seven over par a team over the two-day tournament. Elmira finished in eighth place in the team standings. Brandon Payne '18 shot an excellent round of 78 on Day One, while Jarryd ten Vaanholt '16 paced the squad with a two-day line of 81-77 – 158 (+14) to finish in a tie for 25^th place overall. Charl Pretorius '19 also continued to play some impressive golf in his debut season, carding identical rounds of 82, which was a new career-low for the Elmira freshman.
 
For more information on EC Men's Golf, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Golf Takes Fifth at Le Moyne College Invitational
The Elmira College women's golf team played its penultimate tournament of the fall season this past weekend, taking fifth place at the Le Moyne College Invitational. The Soaring Eagles struggled through a difficult opening round, but rebounded nicely to shave 30 strokes off the overall team score on Day Two. Audrey Clarke '18 led the way yet again for Elmira, cutting 20 strokes off her opening round to shoot a 79 (+7) for her second round, equaling her career-low. It marks the second consecutive tournament in which she has broken 80.
 
For more information on EC Women's Golf, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
More PRs for Cross Country at Mike Woods Invitational
The Elmira College men's and women's cross country teams continued to show marked improvement, as several members of both teams continued to set new personal records on the weekend. Hannah Lundgren '18 led the way for the Elmira women, clocking the second fastest 6K of her career in 25:38.20 to finish 284^th of 453 total runners at the tournament. Nine of Elmira's 11 runners set new personal records at the event. On the men's side, Cody Stinson '16 and James Fritsche '18 continued to pace the way for the Purple and Gold, running the 8K course in 29:02.70 and 29:06.40, respectively. Six of the Soaring Eagles nine runners at the event clocked new personal bests.
 
For more information on EC Women's Cross Country, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
For more information on EC Men's Cross Country, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Soccer Endures Difficult Day in Hoboken
After jumping out to an early 2-0 record in Empire 8 Conference play, the Soaring Eagles took on their most difficult test to-date when the team traveled to Hoboken, NJ, to take on Stevens Institute of Technology. The Soaring Eagles held strong during the opening half hour, but ultimately the Ducks would overwhelm Elmira with four goal over a 4:22 span late in the first half. They would go on to add one more before the halftime horn and another four goals after halftime in a 9-0 whitewash. Despite the lopsided loss, the Elmira women remain in second place in the Empire 8 standings.
 
For more information on EC Women's Soccer, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
The Week Ahead…
 
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Men's Golf hosts Elmira College Fall Invitational, 10:00 a.m.
Women's Golf hosts Elmira College Fall Invitational, 10:00 a.m.
Women's Volleyball vs. SUNY Delhi, 6:00 p.m.
 
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Women's Volleyball at Pitt-Bradford, 6:00 p.m.
 
Saturday, October 10, 2015
*Women's Soccer at Nazareth College, 12:00 p.m.
*Field Hockey at Ithaca College, 1:00 p.m.
*Women's Tennis vs. Houghton College, 1:00 p.m.
*Women's Volleyball vs. Utica College (in Rochester, NY), 1:30 p.m.
*Men's Soccer at Nazareth College, 3:00 p.m.
*Women's Volleyball at St. John Fisher College, 4:00 p.m.
Men's Golf at Nazareth College Invitational
 
Sunday, October 11, 2015
*Field Hockey vs. Washington & Jefferson College, 1:00 p.m.
*Women's Tennis vs. Alfred University, 1:00 p.m.
Men's Golf at Nazareth College Invitational
 
Bold Indicates Home Event
* Indicates Conference Matchup