ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The 2016-17 winter season will be in full motion this week, as the Elmira College men's and women's ice hockey and basketball teams are in action. Elmira fans will have the chance to catch the men's ice hockey team before the Thanksgiving break, as the EC men are the only team to play a home contest this week.
  After a 0-2-0 weekend on the road, the Elmira men are gearing up to host No. 7/8 nationally-ranked Utica College on Friday, November 18th, at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena. Friday's contest will be the first of the season between the two rivals and the first meeting since the 2016 ECAC West Conference Tournament First Round. The puck is set to drop at 7:00 p.m. in Pine Valley, New York.
  The third-ranked Elmira women will look to continue their hot play this upcoming weekend, as the Soaring Eagles prepare to face a tough test on the road against Buffalo State. Elmira, who has opened year with four consecutive wins, opens the two-game series with the Bengals on Friday, November 18th, at 4:00 p.m. at the Buffalo State Ice Arena.
 
  Elmira College hoops are just hours away from their season-openers against Hilbert College. Both teams will travel to Hamburg, New York, to face the Hawks on their home court at the Hafner Recreation Center. The EC women kick things off at 5:00 p.m., before the men do battle with the Hawks at 7:00 p.m.  
 
  Elmira went 0-2-0 on the road last weekend, suffering ECAC West Conference losses to Neumann University and Manhattanville College. The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Neumann in the first 56 seconds of regulation, thanks to an unassisted goal by rookie Eric Bolden '20. However, the Knights responded with a tally of their own with just six seconds left in the opening period to level the game at one apiece. Elmira punched back, scoring three consecutive goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead with 14:06 to play in regulation. Unfortunately, Neumann would score four unanswered goals to steal a one-goal win away from Elmira. Neumann's game-tying tally came with the extra skater with one second remaining in regulation, while the game-winner came 1:43 into the overtime period.
 
Game two against the Valiants began in similar fashion as Friday night's game, as the Purple and Gold landed the first blow with a game-opening power-play goal by rookie Nick Ford '20 at the 1:08 mark of the first period. Manhattanville rallied with three consecutive goals in the first period, two coming on the power play, while scoring another goal early in the third period to take a 4-1 lead. EC's Powell scored his second in as many days on the power play with 13:36 left in the game to cut the deficit to 4-2. Elmira was awarded a pair of power play chances at 10:41 and 14:01, but would come up empty on both opportunities, as the Valiants pushed on for two more goals en route to a 6-2 win.
  It was a scoring frenzy at the Murray Athletic Center this past weekend, as the third-ranked Elmira women earned a pair of lopsided conference wins against Chatham. Elmira began the two-game home series with a 7-1 win on Friday, a night that the Soaring Eagles honored the greatest player to don the Purple and Gold, Laura Hurd '05.
 
Laura's mother Jen and brother Steven, along with over 30-plus former teammates, gathered at center ice for a ceremonial pre-game puck drop as part of the Laura Hurd Memorial Weekend, which celebrated the life of Laura on the 10-year anniversary of her passing. Laura was without a doubt with everyone at the MAC that night – strangely enough, with exactly 4:00 minutes remaining on the clock in the first period, Elmira scored its fourth goal of the game on a night that the Soaring Eagles honored #4 Laura Hurd.
 
The Laura Hurd Memorial Weekend continued on Saturday, as the Elmira women continued to flex their muscle with a dominant 8-0 victory over the Cougars.    The Empire 8 Conference recognized three members of the Elmira field hockey team, as announced by the league in its year-end awards release last Tuesday. Midfielder Atu Machika '18 was named to the E8 All-Conference Second Team for the third straight season, while defender Julia Derco '17 earned an E8 All-Conference Honorable Mention bid. Additionally, Hannah Keil '19 was crowned EC's representative on the Sportswoman of the Year Team.
  Last Wednesday, the Empire 8 announced the results of the 2016 year-end award ballots, and standout striker Michael Bryant '18 was crowned the E8 Player of the Year. Bryant became the first Soaring Eagle in program history to claim the league's top honor. Additionally, junior Donte Donegal '18 and sophomore Colin Morrison '19 were tabbed Empire 8 All-Conference Honorable Mentions, and senior Nick Machuga '17 was named EC's representative on the Sportsman of the Year Team.
  Two members of the EC women's soccer team were rewarded for their efforts through the 2016 fall season, as announced by the Empire 8 Conference on Thursday. Sarah Kazerouni '18 was named an Empire 8 All-Conference Honorable Mention selection, the first such award of her career, after leading the Purple and Gold in scoring. In addition to Kazerouni's all-conference award, Mikayla Gowett '17 was also recognized as Elmira's Sportswoman of the Year honoree