Score: No. 2/3 Elmira College 5 – William Smith College 2
Records: Elmira (18-3-1, 13-2-0 ECAC West), William Smith (8-12-2, 3-10-2 ECAC West)
Location: Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena – Pine Valley, NY

Pine Valley, NY -- The No. 2/3 Elmira College women's ice hockey team concluded its regular season home slate on a high-note on Saturday afternoon. The Soaring Eagles netted a goal just over one-minute into the game and never looked back in a 5-2 victory over William Smith College.
 
Elmira was clinical in the offensive end, continuing the momentum gained from a pair of solid victories over Buffalo State last weekend. EC did not wait long to cash in against the Herons, finding the back of the net on the second shift of the game. The red-hot freshmen connection of Maddy Jerolman '19 and Maddie Evangelous '19 teamed up on the tally. Jerolman picked up a loose puck at the blue-line and carried it hard to the right post, before whipping a shot on goal. The initial shot was stopped by William Smith netminder Maggie Salmon; however, the rebound spilled out to Evangelous in the slot. She sent home a backhander to lift Elmira to a lead 1:18 in.
 
The Soaring Eagles doubled the lead just before the halfway point of the period on Evangelous' second goal of the game. Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18 started the scoring play from behind the net, shuffling it to Jerolman, who was crashing the crease. The puck pin-balled amongst the chaos in the crease, before Evangelous was able to poke it over the goal line.
 
Elmira net-minder Kyle Nelson '17 did not see much action in the opening period; however, she made one major stop on a rising shot from Heron Maura Mulligan from in close. The Soaring Eagles took a 2-0 lead and a 17-to-3 shot advantage into the break.
 
The middle period was dominated by the Elmira seniors, as both Olivia Nystrom '16 and McKenna Farole '16 found the back of the net. The duo scored goals on back-to-back shifts early in the period.
 
Farole, who was been a fixture on the score sheet of late, stretched the lead to 3-0 at 3:34 of the second period. Evangelous continued her big day by starting the scoring sequence. She shuffled the puck to Durnell, who fired a shot from the right wing off of the far post. The puck caromed out to Farole, who fired a quick shot back towards cage that caught Salmon off guard.
 
Nystrom made it 4-0 on the following shift. Johanna Eidensten '17 started the sequence, leaving a puck on the left wing boards, which Kyra McDonald '18 picked up as she pinched down from the left point. She whipped a puck from behind the end line, which Nystrom tapped home as she skated through the crease.
 
The Herons would get on the board 7:13 into the second period, as Krista Federow scored her first of two goals on the day. Kristin Chivers '19 extended the lead back to four goals approximately five minutes later, with assists coming from Sarah Hughson '18 and Farole.
 
Federow concluded scoring late in the third. In a game that saw each team only penalized once, William Smith cashed in on its extra-man opportunity. Not only did Federow score her second goal of the game, the assists once again came from Mulligan and Stephanie Hampton.
 
EC honored Phoebe Piku '16, Nystrom and Farole, the Soaring Eagles' three members of the Class of 2016, in an emotional postgame ceremony following the win.
 
In His Own Words...
Head Coach Dean Jackson '03 on today's game...
"I thought we played a strong 60 minutes. I'm really happy with the discipline we had in sticking with the game plan we had outlined. We played fast and executed on a lot of the little things we have been focused on. Still a couple things we need to clean up, but at the end of the day we got the win in a fashion we are excited about."

Jackson on the fast start...
"We have really gotten off to some strong starts over the last few weeks. Our intensity at the beginning of games is something we've been focused on in recent weeks. It has been an evolving process for us this year. I'm happy that we seem to be getting those strong starts down the stretch here and I hope it's something we will continue heading into the postseason."

Jackson on the Class of 2016...
"They play a huge role within our team. All three of them have been captains. They've been with me for four years now, coming in with me when I was a first-year head coach. They bought into the culture and expectations that I wanted to bring into this program from day one. They have definitely instilled those expectations into some of the younger players that we have in that locker room now. They are a small group, but a highly successful one. Their work ethic has been amazing and they will certainly be missed by the younger players and the staff."

Jackson moving closer to securing a first-round bye...
"Obviously, it will be a big benefit for us to put away that first-round bye. However, it's not something we have talked about. We are trying to remain focused on taking things one game at a time. At the end of the day we'll hopefully look back and say that we did enough to secure that bye, but right now the focus is on tomorrow and taking care of business."

Jackson on the team's positioning in the standings...
"We have set ourselves up in a good position both within the ECAC West standings and from a national standpoint as well."

Inside the Box

• Elmira outshot William Smith by a large margin, 46-to-15.
• The Soaring Eagles held a 37-23 advantage in faceoff wins, led by Anna Tude '17 with 13 and Durnell with 12.
• EC's Piku and William Smith's Egan Sachs-Hecht each served a two-minute penalty, as each side was only penalized once.
• Federow's second goal, scored on the power play, was the only special teams score of the game.
• Evangelous paced all players with two goals and one assist.
• Farole scored one goal with one assist.
• Durnell and Jerolman also registered two points with two assists apiece.
• Chivers and Nystrom also scored for Elmira.
• Federow scored both William Smith goals, with both Mulligan and Hampton assisting on both scores.

 
News and Notes

• Elmira improved to 18-3-1 overall and 13-2-0 inside the ECAC West.
• Nystrom's goal was her team-leading 13th of the season.
• Chivers' assist was her team-leading 22nd point of her rookie campaign.
• Evangelous registered a career-high three points and the second multi-goal game of her career.
• Farole has scored a point in three straight games, tying her longest such streak of the season.
• Nelson needed only 13 saves to win her seventh game of the season.
• EC is now 3-0 all-time against William Smith.

Up Next
The No.2/3 Soaring Eagles will conclude their weekend home-and-home against William Smith with a 3:00 p.m. contest at the Geneva Recreational Complex, aka "The Cooler," on Sunday, February 14th.