Score: Elmira College 5 – SUNY Cortland 1
Records: Elmira (2-1-0, 1-0-0 ECAC West), SUNY Cortland (1-3-1, 0-2-1 ECAC West)
Location: Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, NY
 
Pine Valley, NY – Second-year forward Meghan Fonfara '18 continued her torrid start to the season, netting a second period hat trick to power the Elmira College women's ice hockey team to a 5-1 victory over SUNY Cortland in the team's home opener at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena on Friday evening.
 
It was also a memorable evening for several of Elmira's bevy of younger stars. Maddie Evangelous '19 posted her first two collegiate points, which included a first period goal to open the scoring on the night. Katie Granato '19 also pumped in her first career marker, while Bobbi Strople '19 collected her first collegiate point on Granato's tally.
 
Kelcey Crawford '18 bounced back in a big way from her rough start in the Soaring Eagles' season opener against Adrian College. The second-year goaltender stopped 19-of-20 shots to take collect her first victory on the young season.
 
Coming off a nearly two-week break, following the Soaring Eagles opening weekend at the East-West Hockey Classic, Elmira did not take long to get on the scoreboard. Cortland's Josie Fletcher was whistled for tripping just 34 seconds into the game, putting the Purple and Gold's lethal power-play unit onto the ice. Although the Soaring Eagles struggled to get set up in the attacking zone, they showed how quickly they can capitalize on opponent's mistakes. As the Red Dragons attempted to exit the zone, Kristin Chivers '19 deflected the clearing pass at the blue-line. Sarah Hughson '18 followed the puck, pushing it to the right-wing circle. Evangelous flashed her trademark speed to burst onto the loose puck. She deked a defender and unleashed a sneaky backhander, which took Cortland net-minder Deanna Meunier by surprise, slipping the puck five-hole to put Elmira up 1:36 into the game.
 
Despite the fast start, Elmira also showed some early rust as well. Penalty trouble and neutral zone turnovers characterized the majority of the rest of the first period, as both teams struggled to generate consistent offense. Elmira led in shots 11-to-5 at the first intermission.
 
The second period proved to be the decisive period, as Elmira erupted for four goals in the middle frame to snatch firm control of the contest.
 
Similar to the opening period, Elmira came out flying in the second. Buzzing in the offensive zone, Phoebe Piku '16 made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone on the left half-wall. She knocked the puck to Fonfara, who made an excellent stick-handle past a defender to get into the high-slot, before ripping a shot top shelf to the blocker side to double Elmira's lead.
 
Elmira would continue to experience penalty trouble following the Fonfara tally, as the team was whistled for three infractions over the ensuing nine minutes of play. The Purple and Gold's penalty-kill unit would hold strong to keep momentum. Finally, Elmira would emerge from the penalty woes in the middle of the period. The teams would combine for three goals over a 2:53 span in the middle portion of the period, as Fonfara would sandwich a goal by Cortland's Sydney Carlucci with two more of her own to complete her hat trick.
 
Fonfara's first goal was a thing of beauty, as she carried the puck through the neutral zone with speed, before sniping a sinister wrister top shelf at the 12:04 mark of the period. While the second goal was flashy, her third would make any grinder proud. With Elmira back on the power play, Chivers launched a howitzer of a slap-shot from the point. Her initial shot was blocked, but the puck fell to the blade of Fonfara, who poked it five-hole, as she was falling to the ice.
 
Granato would cap the scoring at the 16:13 mark of the period on an excellent coast-to-coast effort. Gathering the puck behind the net she wound up the rush, flying with speed through the neutral zone, before picking the top left corner of the cage with a picture perfect shot. The 5-1 lead would be more than enough for the Soaring Eagles to take home the victory.
 
Turning Point
After Sydney Carlucci gave the Red Dragons life, cutting the deficit to 3-1 at the 13:09 mark of the second period, the Elmira power play made sure there would be no comeback bid in the cards. Fonfara backhanded home a tally just 1:48 after the Carlucci goal to re-establish the three-goal lead, while also netting a hat trick on the night.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Elmira outshot Cortland 29-to-20 in the contest.
• Elmira won 39-of-69 faceoffs. Johanna Eidensten '16 led the way with 17 won draws, while Granato also had a fine showing at the dot, winning 9-of-12.
• The Elmira special teams were outstanding yet again. The penalty-kill went a perfect 6-for-6, while the power play was also perfect, going 2-for-2.
• Piku posted her first point of the season, with an assist on Fonfara's first goal.
• Hughson added her first two points of the season with a secondary assist on Fonfara's power-play goal.
• Chivers continued her red-hot start to her collegiate career, collecting a pair of assists on the evening.
• Crawford made 19 saves for the Soaring Eagles; Meunier finished with 24 saves for the Red Dragons.

 
News and Notes

• With the victory, Elmira stretched its record to 14-1 in home openers all-time. The Soaring Eagles are now 5-0 when opening the year on home ice against SUNY Cortland, outscoring them 37-3 in those contests.
• Elmira remains a perfect 31-0-0 all-time against the Red Dragons.
• Elmira is now 14-0-1 in ECAC West conference openers all-time.
• While the penalty issues continued to plague the Soaring Eagles this evening, the penalty-kill remained excellent. Following its 6-for-6 effort tonight, Elmira has still yet to concede while playing down a player this season, going a perfect 16-for-16.
• The three-goal effort for Fonfara was not only her first career hat trick, it also marked her first career multi-point game as a Soaring Eagle.
• Fonfara's hat trick was the first by an Elmira player this season. The last Soaring Eagle to post a hat trick was Cassidy Delainey '15 who did so against Buffalo State on February 7^th of last season.
• Three Elmira players tallied their first career collegiate points in Evangelous, Granato, and Strople.

 
Up Next
Elmira will head to SUNY Cortland tomorrow afternoon for the second game back-to-back. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Alumni Arena.