Score: No. 2/3 Elmira College 7 – William Smith College 1
Records: Elmira (19-3-1, 14-2-0 ECACW), William Smith (8-13-2, 3-11-2 ECACW)
Location: The Cooler – Geneva, NY
 
Geneva, NY -- The No. 2/3 Elmira College women's ice hockey team continued to showcase a potent offense on Sunday afternoon, blowing past William Smith College 7-1 in Geneva, NY. With the victory, Elmira moves within one point of clinching the second seed and a first-round bye in the ECAC West Tournament.
 
While the Geneva Recreation Complex Skating Rink, affectionately named The Cooler by fans of William Smith and Hobart College, is notorious for its exceptionally cold temperatures, the Herons were powerless to put the freeze on Elmira's red-hot offense. The Soaring Eagles equaled a season high with seven goals, netting at least two goals in each period to run away with the back end of the home-and-home series between the two programs.
 
Similar to yesterday, EC did not wait long to crack the scoreboard, taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. After netting a pair of goals in yesterday's 5-2 victory at the Murray Athletic Center, Maddie Evangelous '19 continued to show her scoring touch on Sunday. She broke a scoreless deadlock with a power-play goal at 13:31 of the period.
 
Bunching goals together has been a growing trend for the Soaring Eagles over the last two weekends. That trend also perpetuated itself today, as Johanna Eidensten '16 doubled EC's lead just 1:13 after Evangelous' opening strike.
 
The lead swelled to 3-0 early in the second period, as Maddy Jerolman '19 got in on the act, slotting home a shot after receiving a feed from Evangelous. However, the Herons briefly stemmed the tide, as Catherine Linehan slotted home a power-play tally at 6:49 to make it 3-1.
 
William Smith's momentum lasted all of one minutes, as Kristin Chivers '19 reestablished the three-goal advantage with her second goal in as many days. Evangelous built on the lead just before the second intermission, pumping in her second power-play goal of the afternoon.
 
The EC rookies continued to dominate the score sheet in the third period. Katie Granato '19 got into the act with a goal at 5:06 of the final frame, while Shannon Strawinski '19 capped the scoring with a goal at 12:03.
 
In His Own Words…
Head Coach Dean Jackson '03 on today's game…
"I thought we played a real solid 60 minutes today. Coach Martalock and I are proud of the team thought they really put together a pair of strong performances this weekend."
 
Jackson on Evangelous' big weekend…
"Maddie had a real breakout weekend. She has been playing well going into this two-game set and we felt like she was on the verge of putting together an explosive point producing weekend like this. She definitely has grown as a player and she certainly displayed that this weekend."
 
Jackson on the team's offensive resurgence…
"We have been producing a lot of goals of late, but it has not been any one thing that has caused the hot run we are on. It has been a culmination of the team playing with a high degree of confidence and staying committed to being disciplined with our game plan. As a staff, it is great to witness the team coming into its own over these last few weeks."
 
Jackson on next weekend…
"Playing the final two games on the road against a tough opponent is always a challenge. We have a difficult task ahead against Oswego State. However, the message remains the same. All year we have had an approach of one game at a time and we will not deviate from that mindset. The team is focused and we are looking forward to the road trip."
 
Turning Point
Elmira seized firm control of the game midway through the first period, with Evangelous and Eidensten sending in goals 1:13 apart to take a 2-0 lead. Eidensten's tally would stand up as the eventual game-winning goal.
 
Inside the Box Score

• For the second consecutive day, Elmira held a significant advantage in the shot count, firing 34 pucks on goal compared to William Smith's 20.
• Evangelous led all players with six shots on goal in the game.
• EC held a 32-to-23 advantage in faceoff wins.
• Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18 went 10-for-16 at the faceoff dot, while Eidensten won nine of her 14 draws on the day.
• Sunday's game got a little sloppy from a penalty perspective. Elmira committed seven violations in the game, while William Smith finished with five penalties.
• The Soaring Eagles went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Herons finished 1-for-5 with the advantage.
• Evangelous finished tied for a game-high with three points, which included both of Elmira's power-play goals.
• Granato also finished with three points on one goal and two assists on the opening two Elmira tallies on the afternoon.
• Jerolman finished with two points on a goal and an assist.
• Chivers, Strawinski and Eidensten added the other three Elmira goals.
• Lippiatt Durnell concluded the game with two helpers.
• Kyra McDonald '18, Olivia Nystrom '16, Anna Tude '17, Rachel Grampp '18 and Meg Lahey '19 each finished with one assist apiece.
• Kelcey Crawford '18 got the starting nod in the Elmira cage, finishing with 19 saves on 20 Heron shots.

 
News and Notes

• With the victory, Elmira secured the season sweep over the Herons.
• Elmira is now 4-0-0 all-time against William Smith.
• With the win, Elmira is now just one point away from clinching the second seed and the accompanying first-round bye in the ECAC West Tournament. Plattsburgh State clinched home-ice advantage for the tournament with a victory over Utica College this afternoon.
• The Soaring Eagles equaled a season high with seven goals in today's contest. Elmira has now found the back of the net 17 times over its last three games.
• Evangelous had a huge weekend, finishing the series with six points on four goals and two assists.
• Granato has now scored a goal in four of her last five games.
• Chivers netted a goal in both games this weekend, while she stretched her point scoring streak to three straight contests.
• Jerolman also posted back-to-back multi-point efforts this weekend and has now recorded a point in three consecutive games.

 
Up Next
Elmira concludes the regular season with a road series at Oswego State next weekend. The Soaring Eagles open the two-game set on Friday, February 19^th, with a 7:00 p.m. faceoff. The second game against the Lakers is slated for 3:00 p.m. the following afternoon.