ELMIRA, N.Y. -- With the exception of men's and women's cross country, the Elmira College fall sports season came to a close last week, as several teams played in their season finales and honored their senior members of the team in the final home games of the year. Additionally, men's ice hockey opened its 2016-17 campaign over the past weekend, while the third-ranked women's ice hockey team opens the season on the road this Friday night.
  The No. 3 nationally-ranked women's ice hockey team begins its quest for a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth this Friday, November 4th, when the Soaring Eagles travel to face Neumann University in ECAC West Conference action. EC fans will get their first look at the 2016-17 edition of the Purple and Gold under the guidance of first-year head coach Kelsea Martalock, who will be making her head coaching debut.
  After opening the season with a pair of non-league games, the Elmira men will play in their ECAC West Conference opener on the road this upcoming weekend. The Soaring Eagles begin conference play with a Friday, November 4th, contest against first-year program Stevenson University. The following night, Elmira travels to face Lebanon Valley College, which marks the first meeting between the programs since January 23, 2010. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.
  Elmira men's and women's cross country completed competition at the Empire 8 Conference Championships this past Saturday, but the Soaring Eagles' season is not done quite yet. The Purple and Gold wrap up the 2016 fall campaign at the ECAC Division III Championships, hosted at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome in Milton, New York, on Saturday, November 5th. The Elmira men begin the championship with an eight-kilometer race at 11:00 a.m., before the women conclude the day's action with a 6K at noon.   
  The 2016 fall sports award season is quickly approaching, as regular season play concluded over the weekend. Year-end awards will be announced this week for men's and women's soccer, field hockey, and women's volleyball. Continue to check the Elmira College Athletics website for full details on year-end awards.

  The Soaring Eagles opened their 44th season of collegiate hockey this past weekend with a home-and-home series with the Lakers of Oswego State. After a bumpy season opener in Oswego, one that saw the Lakers top Elmira by a 7-1 final score, a young Soaring Eagle squad looked much more comfortable on its home ice at the Murray Athletic Center in Saturday's home opener. Although EC fell 6-3, the effort by the Purple and Gold showed great promise of things to come from a freshman-laden squad. Connor Powell '20 led the way with a three-point effort on two goals, including a power-play goal, and one assist.
  Elmira wrapped up the 2016 campaign with a quartet of matches, going 1-3 during that span, with the team's lone victory coming against Bard in five sets. In the win over the Raptors, Elmira trailed 2-sets-to-1 but was able to claim wins in the final two frames behind the attacking efforts of Natalie Schieder '19 and McKenzie Slaven '20 to secure the five-set victory. Schieder logged produced 19 kills, while Slaven put away 13 attempts. The Soaring Eagles concluded the 2016 season with a 6-15 overall record.
  The turbulent fall season continued for the Elmira men this past week, as the Soaring Eagles went 0-1-1 to conclude the year with a 4-10-3 overall record. Following the team's 3-2 win over Skidmore on October 5th, Elmira struggled to find wins and as a result closed out the final seven games of the season with five losses and two draws. One of those two ties came in a 1-1 double-overtime draw with King's (Pa.) this past Wednesday, a day EC honored its seven graduating members of the Class of 2017. Michael Bryant '18 scored the game-tying goal on a penalty kick late in the first half, while Jordan Hodlofski '17 made eight saves to preserve the tie. Then in Saturday's season finale against conference rival Alfred, EC dropped a 2-1 double-overtime decision while playing down a man for the final 35:09 of the contest. Tony Barraco '18 scored EC's lone goal of the game on a penalty kick in the 12th minute of the first half.
 
  EC suffered a pair of two-goal losses this past week to Alfred State and Hartwick. The Pioneers of Alfred State recorded a 2-0 win over Elmira, despite a six-save effort by Amanda Banner '17, in a rare night game under the lights at the Murray Athletic Center. Then in Elmira's season finale at Campus Field on Saturday, the Soaring Eagles came up just short in a 4-2 setback to Hartwick. Elmira erased a pair of one-goal deficits thanks to tallies by Niki Lemper '17 and Sara Kazerouni '18, but the playoff-bound Hawks would push through for a pair of goals in the final 16 minutes of regulation to spoil EC's upset bid on Class of 2017 Recognition Day.  
  The 2016 season came to a close for Elmira, as the Purple and Gold fell thrice in a 0-3 week. EC took a 4-0 mid-week loss to Wilkes, before playoff bound Ithaca topped the Soaring Eagles by a 6-0 final on Class of 2017 Recognition Day at the Domes on Saturday. Elmira closed out the year with a road trip to face Bryn Mawr, and despite a two-goal halftime lead, the Owls rallied with two second-half goals and another in overtime to seal a 3-2 comeback win. Alison Mariano '18 and Atu Machika '18 tallied for Elmira, while Katie Carroll '18 was credited with assists on both goals.
  Running in just its third Empire 8 Conference Championship in program history, the Elmira women took home an eighth-place finish. The conference race was hosted by Hartwick at the Fortin Park Cross Country Course located in Oneonta, New York. Caitlin Malanowski '20, Abby Tourison '17 and Hannah Lundgren '18 led the pack and finished within 6.7 seconds within each other. Malanowski paced the group with a 67th-place finish with a time of 23:03.20.
  Elmira completed its second Empire 8 Conference Championship race in program history this past weekend at the Fortin Park Cross Country Course, hosted by Hartwick, in Oneonta, New York. EC came in ninth place with a team score of 266. James Fritsche '18 led the Soaring Eagles with a time of 29:52.10, good enough for 60th place at the 101-runner event.