Elmira College (1-4) vs. Wilkes University (3-2)
Wednesday, September 16, 2015 | 4:00 P.M. | Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, NY
Live Coverage | Twitter: @ECSoaringEagles
 
Elmira, NY -- Coming off a tough 4-2 defeat in its conference opener last Saturday, Elmira College field hockey will get back into non-conference play when they welcome Wilkes University for a midweek clash at the Murray Athletic Center. The Soaring Eagles will be looking for their second consecutive victory in non-league play, as they downed Keuka College 3-0 earlier last week.
 
All-Time Series
Elmira is 0-1 all-time against Wilkes. The lone meeting came on October 14^th of last season, a 5-4 Colonels victory at Schmidt Stadium in Edwardsville, PA. The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 25-minutes of play on a penalty stroke goal from Sarah McCaffrey '18 and a breakaway tally from Alli Gilbert '16. Although Elmira took a 2-1 lead to halftime and would go on to tally two more goals in the second half, it would not be enough. Marissa Surdy's two goals sparked a furious second half comeback for the Lady Colonels, as the home side found the back of the net four times to deal Elmira the defeat.
 
Offense On-Point
Although the Soaring Eagles came up on the short end of a 4-2 decision against Nazareth College in the Empire 8 Conference opener on Saturday, the team put together arguably its best game of the season. Elmira outshot the Golden Flyers 16-to-12 in the contest, the second consecutive game EC has held a shooting advantage, while the Soaring Eagles held possession for vast stretches of both the first and second half. Couple that performance with the 3-0 victory earlier in the week over Keuka College and the Soaring Eagles seem to only be getting stronger as the year has progressed.
 
Brain Gains
Elmira's Megan Brain '18 had a career game on Saturday against the Golden Flyers. The second-year forward tallied both of Elmira's goals, recording the first multi-goal effort of her collegiate career. Both scores came as a result of some nifty stick-work in tight quarter's right at the goal-mouth. Her first goal equalized the game at 1-1 just 1:25 before the halftime horn, as she deflected a shot from Kristy Haskell '19 past Nazareth keeper Lauren Devine. Her second goal slashed the Golden Flyers lead in half in the second half, as she deflected home Gilbert's excellent backhand feed across the face of goal.
 
Preventing the Bunch Scoring
One area that has been an Achilles heel for the Soaring Eagles this season has been allowing opponents to score goals in bunches. In each of Elmira's four losses this season the squad has had an instance where it has allowed multiple goals over a span of three-minutes or less. These instances have caused huge momentum swings, most recently this past Saturday, as a 1-1 tie at halftime turned into a 3-1 deficit just 3:21 into the second session. The Soaring Eagles will look to lock down this area moving forward.
 
Scouting Wilkes
The Lady Colonels enter the weekend with a 3-2 mark on the season. It has been a up-and-down season for Wilkes thus far, as the team has alternated wins and losses ever since a 7-1 thrashing of Keystone College in the season opener. Wilkes dropped its most recent matchup, a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at Arcadia University on Saturday afternoon. After conceding a goal in the opening five-minutes of play, Jenna Skrinak finally equalized the score in the 51^st-minute; however, Allie Hines would push Arcadia ahead with just 7:39 left to play to seal the game. Wilkes boasts a well-balanced attack, as seven players have scored at least one goal, while nine players total have collected at least one point on the year. Marissa Surdy leads the way with a 5g-4a – 14pts line through the team's first five games of 2015. Dallas Kendra has played nearly every minute in the Lady Colonels cage this season, entering with a solid 1.40 goals against average and .811 save percentage.
 
Looking Ahead
Elmira will return to Empire 8 Conference play this weekend, as the Soaring Eagles will conclude their season-long three-game home stand when Utica College visits the Murray Athletic Center on Saturday, September 19^th. Start time for that contest is slated for 1:00 p.m.