Elmira, NY -- Elmira College Athletics kicked off its somewhat abbreviated month of December schedule with a somewhat busy stretch, as three of four teams were in action over this past week. Upstate opponents seemed to be a theme on the schedule for this past week, as all three Elmira teams took on foes from the North Country. The EC men's and women's basketball teams dropped hard-fought contests to St. Lawrence University and Clarkson, respectively. The Elmira women would rally for a big victory on Thursday at the Penn College of Technology. On the ice, the EC women's ice hockey team upped its winning streak to nine, after sweeping a two-game set at SUNY Potsdam over the weekend. Read up on what you missed in the latest edition of Soaring Eagles Weekly.
 
Headlines for the Week Ahead
 
Men's Ice Hockey Welcomes SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday
The Elmira College men's ice hockey team returns to action following an eight-day layoff when it wraps up its season-long five-game home stand against SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday night. It will be the last time to catch you Soaring Eagles in action at home in 2015, as Elmira's next home game will be on Saturday, January 9^th. Opening faceoff for Tuesday's tilt with the Bears is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena.
 
Basketball Teams Set for Doubleheader at SUNY Cortland on Wednesday
The Elmira College men's and women's basketball teams will head to Cortland for a doubleheader against the Red Dragons on Wednesday evening. The Elmira women will tip-off the first game of the day at 5:30 p.m., while the Elmira men will cap the day with a 7:30 p.m. scheduled start.
 
Men's Ice Hockey Continues Difficult Stretch in Weekend Road Set
The Elmira College men's ice hockey team continues its busy week with a difficult road set to close out the 2015 portion of its schedule this weekend. The Soaring Eagles will open the trip with a 7:00 p.m. faceoff at Wesleyan University on Friday, December 11^th. Elmira returns to action the following day when it faces nationally-ranked Trinity College at 4:30 p.m.
 
A Look Back at the Week That Was…
 
Women's Ice Hockey Sweeps Weekend Set at SUNY Potsdam
The second-ranked Elmira College women's ice hockey team upped its winning-streak to nine games when it swept both ends of a weekend set at SUNY Potsdam on Saturday and Sunday. The Soaring Eagles continued to showcase its scoring depth, as the third and fourth lines made their presence felt in a big way. The bottom six accounted for six of Elmira's eight goals on the weekend. On Saturday, three different Soaring Eagles collected their first point of the season, while Sydney Fischer '17, Sarah Hughson '18 and Rachel Grampp '18 each tallied their first goals of the season in the 5-0 victory over the Bears. Kelcey Crawford '18 was strong in the cage, stopping all 15 shots she faced to notch her second shutout of the season.
 
Sunday's contest would prove to be much more difficult, as the Bears would scratch and claw their way back late. Ari Smith '18 would continue the trend of fourth-line scoring with her first goal of the season to stake Elmira to a 1-0 lead late in the opening period. Meghan Fonfara '18 would add her team leading eighth goal of the season, while Hughson would add her second tally in as many days to put the Soaring Eagles up 3-1 in the third period. SUNY Potsdam would answer with a late-game charge, pulling within a goal with 1:59 remaining and drawing a penalty, which would give the Bears a six-on-four advantage for the final 1:20 of the game. Kyle Nelson '17 came up with three big saves, including a highlight-reel sprawling denial of SUNY Potsdam's Jordan Ott at the left post, to preserve the regulation win for EC. With the pair of wins, Elmira concludes the 2015 portion of its schedule with a perfect 6-0-0 mark in ECAC West play.
 
For more information on EC Women's Ice Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Basketball Comes Up Short Against St. Lawrence on Friday
The Elmira College men's basketball team suffered another hard-fought loss, which have seemingly been all too common during the early portion of this season, when it fell to St. Lawrence University 81-74 at Speidel Gymnasium on Friday night. The Soaring Eagles showed remarkable resiliency, cutting what was a 17-point deficit with 11:29 remaining to just four-point margin with 40 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, the comeback was not meant to be, as the Saints closed things out at the free-throw line over the final 40 ticks to drop Elmira to 1-5 on the young season. Justin Porrett '19 continued his torrid start to the 2015-16 campaign, pouring in a game-high 20 points, while adding six rebounds and five assists. Anthony Abate '19 also had a big game off the bench, chipping in a career-high 12 points, adding two steals and one assist.
 
For more information on EC Men's Basketball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Basketball Goes Splits Pair of Games
The Elmira College women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to open the week when it fell to Clarkson University 67-55 at Speidel Gymnasium. Danielle Cleary '18 continued her stellar start to her sophomore season, notching her third double-double of the year with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Things looked to be a runaway early on, as the Golden Knights stretched their lead to 14 points midway through the second quarter; however, Cleary led a charge with eight points over a 14-4 run for Elmira to close out the half just down four. Unfortunately, the Purple and Gold could not carry the momentum to the final half, as Clarkson maintained a three-to-four possession lead for the majority of the rest of the game.
 
Elmira would rally for a lopsided victory at Pennsylvania College of Technology just two days later. After a tight opening quarter, the Soaring Eagles quickly pulled away in the final three quarters in an 82-47 win. Cleary again led the charge with 20 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. Rachel Vespucci '19 and Marissa Silverman '17 made big contributions off the bench, adding 13 and 12 points, respectively.
 
For more information on EC Women's Basketball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
The Week Ahead…
 
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Men's Ice Hockey vs. SUNY Potsdam, 7:00 p.m.
 
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Women's Basketball at SUNY Cortland, 5:30 p.m.
Men's Basketball at SUNY Cortland, 7:30 p.m.
 
Friday, December 11, 2015
Men's Ice Hockey at Wesleyan University, 7:00 p.m.
 
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Women's Basketball at SUNY Potsdam, 2:00 p.m.
Men's Ice Hockey at Trinity College, 4:30 p.m.
 
Bold Indicates Home Contest