Score: Elmira College 5, Nazareth College 2
Records: Elmira (1-3-0, 1-3-0 ECAC West), Nazareth (0-3-2, 0-3-1 ECAC West)
Location: Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex – Rochester, NY

Rochester, NY -- The Elmira College men's ice hockey team used a four-goal third period and a stellar performance from freshman goaltender Sandro Aeschlimann '19 to defeat Nazareth College, 5-2, for the first win of the season.

Trailing 1-0 in the early minutes of the opening period, third-year goaltender Sal Magliocco '17 left the ice with an injury, thrusting Aeschlimann into the second appearance of his young career. The Switzerland native responded by stopping all 19 shots faced in the first and second periods. The only goal Aeschlimann surrendered was on the power play in the third period, as he finished with 31 saves on the night.

Alexander Taulien '17 knotted the game at 1-1 at 4:02 with a top-shelf tally over the glove side of Nazareth goalie Ed Zdolshek. Taulien set up the unassisted score with a steal in the Elmira defensive zone, taking it all the way for the equalizer.

Although the Golden Flyers controlled much of the first period, outshooting EC 12-to-5 and dominating the faceoff circle with 19 wins in 23 chances, the Soaring Eagles began to shift the momentum in their favor in the second period. EC outshot Nazareth, 13-to-10, in the second period and generated a pair of power play opportunities.

With just over four minutes to play in the second period, Aeschlimann turned in one of many key stops on the night. Naz's Oliver Janzen rifled a shot from the left-wing side to Aeschlimann's glove side, but the first-year keeper was able to pinch his left arm down in time to trap the puck just underneath his armpit.

EC wasted no time finding the back of the net in the final period. Only 1:40 into the frame, Jeremy Marginsky '18 put the Purple and Gold ahead, 2-1, with assists from Tommy Sumi '16 and Greg Whittle '16. Less than a minute later, with Jarryd ten Vaanholt '16 in the penalty box, Carter Shinkaruk '16 stole the puck in the defensive zone and outran the Golden Flyers for a one-on-one opportunity with Zdolshek. Shinkaruk beat Naz goalie Ed Zdolshek stick-side for the short-handed goal, the eventual game-winner.

The Golden Flyers kept the pressure on, however, by responding with a power play goal from John Power with only two seconds remaining on the man advantage.

Elmira sealed the victory with a power play score of its own late in the third period. Brian Depp '16 slipped around the backside of the net, set up to Zdolshek's right. Depp one-timed a pass from Sumi into the wide-open net past the sprawling netminder, extending the lead to 4-2.

The Golden Flyers pulled their goalie in the final 1:30, giving them a 6-on-4 opportunity until Michael Collins '16 was released from the penalty box with 34 seconds left in regulation. Aeschlimann made a pair of saves in that span, and added another brilliant pad stop inside the final 30 seconds after he lost his stick in a scrum in front of the net.

Sumi added an empty-netter in the final moments for EC's fifth goal.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Aaron Saul '98 on getting the first win of the year…
"Obviously, it feels great. It feels really good to get that huge monkey off of our back and relieve that pressure of not winning a couple of games early, games that we probably should have won."

Coach Saul on Aeschlimann's performance…
"It's a great boost of confidence for him and for our team to understand that we've got more than one guy we can play in the net. He came in and settled everything down. He made a couple of big saves early and a couple of big saves late in the game."

Coach Saul on recovering from a slow start in the first period…
"In the second period we really started dominating. There was a tough two or three minutes in the second, but five minutes into the second period I thought we really started playing. We had some great chances, but didn't finish. I told the guys that we have to keep going and we'll finish our chances here sooner or later. It was a matter of time before we started scoring."

Turning Point
Leading 3-2 with less than four minutes remaining in the third period, Elmira went on the man advantage after Nazareth's Scott Andler was assessed a two-minute penalty for high sticking. Although the Soaring Eagles began the game 0-for-3 on the power play, Depp's one-timer added an insurance goal, extending the lead to 4-2.

Inside the Box

• Sumi led Elmira with one goal and two assists.
• Depp, Marginsky, Shinkaruk, and Taulien each scored one goal.
• Rob Simpson '16, Tyler Theodoulou '18, Collins and Whittle earned one assist apiece.
• Aeschlimann made 31 saves and allowed one goal in 56:46 of relief.
• Shinkaruk led EC with 10 faceoff wins, Collins went 8-for-11 on the draw.
• As a team, Nazareth controlled the faceoff circle, winning 46 of 72 draws.
• Both teams were assessed four penalties for eight minutes.

News and Notes

• Elmira is now 1-3-0 overall and inside the ECAC West on the season.
• The win allowed Elmira to avoid its first 0-4 start since doing so in 2006-07.
• EC snapped its two-game losing streak vs. Nazareth, and improves to 7-2-1 all-time against the Golden Flyers.
• Aeschlimann earned his first career win in his second appearance of his rookie season.

Up Next
Elmira College returns home to host Hobart College at the Murray Athletic Center in a pair of ECAC West games next weekend. The Soaring Eagles and Statesmen meet on Friday, November 20th and on Saturday, November 21st; both games are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.