College Hockey Stats Box Score
 
Buffalo, NY -- Playing in their first game as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, the Elmira College women's ice hockey team edged host Buffalo State, 2-1. With the win, Elmira improves to 18-1-1 overall and remain perfect in ECAC West Conference play at 13-0-0. 
 
AHCA All-American Brooke Wilgosh '15 played the hero tonight, as her goal with 3:22 remaining in the third period broke a 1-1 tie, giving the Soaring Eagles their ninth consecutive victory as well as pushed EC's unbeaten streak to 12 games, the third longest active streak in all of NCAA Division III women's ice hockey.  Classmates Ashley Ryan '15 and Erin Weston '15 were credited with assists on Wilgosh's game-winning goal.
 
Ryan, the nation's leader in points and assists, finished with two points tonight on a goal and an assist.  Her two points ups her career total to 143, moving her into sole possession of third place on Elmira College's all-time list for career points, making Ryan the first player in six years to crack to the top-three.   
 
Elmira got on the board first in today's game, thanks to an unassisted shorthanded goal by Ryan at the 10:32 mark of first period, just 21 seconds into Buffalo State's power play.  In total, EC's penalty-kill unit denied Buffalo State on two power-play chances in the period.  Ryan's goal would hold up through the first period of play as the Soaring Eagles kept the Bengals of Buffalo State off the scoreboard, taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. 
 
The Soaring Eagles had ample scoring opportunities in the second period as the Bengals were called for three penalties, all within 2:12 of each other, putting Elmira's No. 2 nationally ranked power-play unit on the ice for an extended period of time.  However, the Buffalo State penalty-kill unit would deny Elmira on all three power-play chance, keeping it a one-goal game entering the third period.
 
In the third, Buffalo State evened the game at 1-1 with a goal from Jeyna Minnick just 2:41 into the period.  The score remained 1-1 for the majority of the period until Wilgosh buried her third goal of the season, the eventual game-winner, at the 16:38 mark of the period.  Ryan and Weston were credited with assists on the game-winning goal.
 
Elmira starting netminder, Kyle Nelson '17, came up with 14 saves en route to her 10th win of the season.
 
The Soaring Eagles will look to make it a weekend sweep against the Bengals as they host Buffalo State tomorrow, February 7th at 3:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena.