ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Elmira College men's and women's ice hockey teams were the only two in action this past week, as the Soaring Eagle skaters combined for a 3-1-0 record over the weekend. Elmira's men's and women's basketball teams do no open their 2016-17 schedules until November 15th, but will be hosting their annual Hoops Hysteria event on Wednesday, November 9th, at 9:15 p.m.
  Elmira College will honor its most decorated women's ice hockey player, Laura Hurd '05, with a memorial weekend celebrating her life and career. Laura, a four-time AHCA First-Team All-American and 2005 AHCA Division III National Player of the Year, passed away at the age of 24 in a car accident on the morning of June 23, 2006. On the 10-year anniversary of Laura's passing, Elmira will host the Laura Hurd Memorial Weekend during EC's home-opening weekend of games against Chatham University on Friday and Saturday, November 11th and 12th.  Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., while Saturday's contest is set for 3:00 p.m. Both games will take place at EC's Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena, located in Pine Valley, New York, and admission will be free of charge. With the 2016-17 Elmira College basketball seasons fast approaching, the men's and women's basketball teams will be hosting their annual Hoops Hysteria event, sponsored by the Student Association Finance Board, on Wednesday, November 9th, at 9:15 p.m. The doors open at the Speidel Gymnasium at 9:00 p.m. The first 400 fans to will be given a free Hoops Hysteria t-shirt and each fan will be given five free raffle tickets for a number of prizes that will be given out throughout the evening. Elmira Competition Cheerleading will also be featured during Wednesday's event, giving the college campus will get a glimpse of what to expect from the EC cheerleaders this winter, as will the EC Dance Line.
  With the 2016 fall sports season wrapped up for the Soaring Eagles, the year-end conference awards program is just getting into full swing. The Empire 8 Conference will be announcing its all-conference teams for field hockey, as well as men's and women's soccer, this week. Please continue to check the Elmira College Athletics website for full coverage of EC's award winners.
 
  Elmira opened ECAC West Conference play this past weekend with road contests against the newest members of the league, Stevenson and Lebanon Valley. After falling in a 3-1 hole through two periods of play against Stevenson, the Soaring Eagles rallied in the third with a pair of goals by Blake O'Neill '19 and Mitch Atkins '19, the latter coming in the final two minutes of regulation to force overtime. Unfortunately, the Mustangs found a game-winning goal with 27.7 seconds remaining in overtime to claim a win in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. EC starting netmidner Sal Magliocco '17 was credited with the first goal of his collegiate career, which also went down as the first tally by an Elmira goalkeeper in the program's 44-year history.
 
The following Saturday night, Elmira rode the effort of a 4-for-6 power-play performance to solidify a wild 8-6 win over the Dutchmen, securing EC's first victory of the year. Tyler Theodoulou '18 scored a pair of power-play goals, one of which went down as the game-winner, and assisted on EC's eighth and final insurance goal of the evening. Rookie Eric Bolden '20 also had a noteworthy night, as he had a hand in three of EC's first four goals, totaling three points on one tally and a pair of helpers.
  The 2016-17 season began just as well as Elmira could have hoped for, as the Soaring Eagles secured a pair of ECAC West Conference wins against the Knights of Neumann in the team's first contests of the year. Meghan Fonfara '18 played the hero in Friday night's opener, as the Elma, New York, native scored twice to carry the Purple and Gold to a 2-1 win. Fonfara's game-winning goal came with 6:20 remaining in regulation, which broke a 1-1 stalemate that lasted for 26:14 of the contest.
 
The following afternoon's game against the Knights was much more routine for the Elmira women, who exploded for seven goals in a one-sided 7-0 blanking. Credit Elmira's power-play unit for setting the tone in the win, as the Soaring Eagles went 4-for-9 with the extra skater, after an 0-for-3 outing the night before. Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18 fueled the power-play unit, earning points on all four power-play chances (1g, 3a). She finished the day with a career-high five points on two goals, including the game-winning tally, and three helpers.  
  Two Elmira College women's volleyball players were recognized by the Empire 8 Conference for their hard work and dedication throughout the 2016 season, as announced by the league office in its year-end awards release last Wednesday. Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Schieder '19 and senior middle blocker Alicia Day '17 were both honored by the conference for the second straight year, as Schieder garnered a place on the E8 All-Conference Honorable Mention team, while Day was named EC's Sportswoman of the Year.
  The 2016 season came to a close this past Saturday for the Elmira women, who ended the year at the ECAC Championships, held at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome in Milton, New York. Elmira finished 14th at the event and was led by senior Abby Tourison '17, who claimed a 53rd-place finish with the second-fastest six-kilometer time of her EC career at 28:16.40. Tourison led the pack of EC runners for the first time this season and became the first runner outside of Hannah Lundgren '18 and Caitlin Malanowski '20 to pace the Purple and Gold.
  Elmira concluded its 2016 schedule this past Saturday at the ECAC Championships, held at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome in Milton, New York. The Soaring Eagles took home a 16th-place finish at the year-end event and were paced by second-year runner, James Fritsche '18, who claimed 48th place out of the field of 113 competitors. Fritsche navigated the 8K course in 30:07.20, the third-fastest time of his 2016 campaign.