Score: Elmira College 4 – Utica College 1
Records: Elmira (4-1-0, 3-0-0 ECACW), Utica (5-1-1, 3-1-1 ECACW)
Location: Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena – Pine Valley, NY
 
Pine Valley, NY -- The No. 2 Elmira College women's ice hockey team returned to action on Saturday afternoon when it kicked off a two-game set against red-hot ECAC West foe Utica College at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena. Elmira stretched its winning streak to four on the backs of its rookies, who were responsible for three of the team's goals in the 4-1 victory.
 
Katie Granato '19 and Shannon Strawinski '19 each notched a goal and an assist apiece during a clutch two-goal flurry during the second period. Kristin Chivers '19 also continued her scintillating start, opening the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period.
 
Olivia Nystrom '16 played a solid game overall and was rewarded with an empty-net goal to seal the game. Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18, Meghan Fonfara '18 and Anna Tude '17 added helpers for the Soaring Eagles.
 
Kelcey Crawford '18 got the nod in the Elmira cage and was sensational. She stopped 22-of-23 shots, including a couple dazzlers during a frantic start to the second period. The win ups her record to 3-1 on the season.
 
It was a sprightly start to the contest, as the teams went end-to-end in a pacey opening 20 minutes. The Soaring Eagles were tested right out of the gates, as Fonfara was whistled for interference just over three minutes into the game, putting on Utica's top-ranked power-play unit. The Soaring Eagles continued its trend of excellent work on the penalty kill and looked to have gain momentum from the decisive kill.
 
Elmira's special teams prowess continued later in the period, when the Soaring Eagles capitalized on their second power play of the period. Working with a four-on-three advantage, Elmira controlled the puck for the entirety of the advantage in the offensive zone. Lippiatt Durnell shuffled the puck to Chivers who one-timed a howitzer from the left-wing circle into the short-side twine to lift the home side to a 1-0 lead.
 
Utica came out with renewed energy following the first intermission, doing an excellent job of hemming the Soaring Eagles in the defensive zone for vast stretches. Crawford dazzled in the Elmira cage, making several excellent stops, including a denial of Utica's Morgan Reed on a clean breakaway. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time for the Pioneers, as they would net an equalizer 5:32 into the middle period.
 
Utica's Lauren Patterson picked off a pass at center red and launched a quick counter attack. She moved the puck to Gabrielle Schnepp who streamed down the right-wing around an Elmira defender, before labeling a perfect backdoor pass to the blade of Reed. She would not be denied this time, one-touching it into the twine.
 
Elmira seemed to be shaken to life following the Pioneers quick strike, as the team flipped the ice for the majority of the rest of the middle period. The game would decisively turn just after the halfway point, as the Soaring Eagles again turned to their first-year players for production, tallying two goals over a 1:18 span.
 
Granato staked Elmira to a lead it would not relinquish at the 12:50 mark of the period. Strawinski started the play in the neutral zone, winning a puck free on the right-wing boards, shuffling it up to Fonfara who streamed into the attacking zone in a two-on-one with Granato. Fonfara drew the defender, before lifting a saucer pass to Granato at the bottom of the left-wing circle. The freshman made an excellent play to corral the pass, stickhandling from her backhand to her forehand, before roofing a shot over the glove of Goin to put the Soaring Eagles up 2-1.
 
Elmira would add a second goal shortly after, this time Granato setting up Strawinski for the tally on a pretty tic-tac-toe play. Tude made a nice play to keep the puck in at the top of the zone, moving it to Granato in the left circle. Granato one-touched it to Strawinski who was unchecked cutting down the slot. She again picked on the blocker of Goin, wiring a wrister top shelf to extend the lead.
 
The Purple and Gold would play a tactical third period, not allowing Utica much time or space in the offensive zone. Nystrom would ice the game with an empty-net goal with 16 seconds left to cap the scoring.
 
In His Own Words
Head Coach Dean Jackson '03 on his team's performance…
"I didn't think we played to the best of our ability. It was an inconsistent performance throughout the game. We certainly had some real positives, but we need to clean up our game for tomorrow."
 
Jackson on the contributions from his young players…
"We are happy that we are getting contributions from our first year players. They are providing depth to our line-up. Moving forward we expect their game to continuing maturing and that they will continue to provide us with strong contributions on a consistent basis."
 
Jackson on tomorrow's return trip to Utica…
"Looking ahead to tomorrow's game, we will need to be disciplined within our game plan. Utica is a very good team. We have seen them win big games and know that it will be a difficult test for us."
 
Turning Point
With the game knotted at 1-1 midway through the second period, Elmira snatched away control of the contest with a two-goal flurry over a span of 1:18. Granato pumped in the first on an excellent backhand-to-forehand move, while Strawinski broke the game open with a laser wrist shot from the high-slot.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Elmira outshot Utica 27-to-23 in the contest.
• Tude led the Soaring Eagles with four shots on goal, while Utica's Morgan Reed also finished with four shots on goal to lead the Pioneers.
• Elmira held a decisive advantage at the faceoff dot. The Soaring Eagles won 34-of-49 draws, which contributed greatly to EC's possession advantage during the final 30 minutes.
• Johanna Eidensten '16 led Elmira, going 14-of-20 in the game. Tude also was excellent, winning 10-of-13 faceoffs.
• Elmira went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Soaring Eagles were a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
• Crawford posted what was perhaps her finest game of the season, making several highlight reel stops throughout the game. She finished with 22 saves and one goal against.

 
News and Notes

• Strawinski had a game to remember, tallying her first two collegiate points with a goal and an assist in the decisive second period.
• Elmira continued to get big production from its Class of 2019. For the fourth straight contest an EC rookie tallied a goal, all four games resulted in victories. Four different first-year players have scored a goal during the aforementioned stretch, accounting for seven of Elmira's 20 goals in total.
• The Elmira power-play unit continued to have a major impact in the game. Chivers first period tally while on the advantage marked the fourth consecutive game in which Elmira has posted at least one power-play goal. Elmira is now 6-for-19 this season with the advantage.
• The penalty kill was also a big part of the story today, as the Soaring Eagles shut down Utica's potent power play.  The Pioneers entered the day ranked first in NCAA Division III, converting on 42.1 percent of their power-play chances. Elmira killed all three of its penalties in convincing fashion. The Soaring Eagles have now killed 24 straight penalties to begin the 2015-16 season.

 
Up Next
Elmira will head to Utica for the second game of the two-game weekend set tomorrow afternoon. Opening faceoff at the Utica Memorial Auditorium is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Soaring Eagles will remain on the road over Thanksgiving weekend, as they will take on nationally ranked Middlebury College and Gustavus Adolphus College at the Cardinal-Panther Classic on Friday, November 27^th, and Saturday, November 28^th.