Score: Utica College 5 – Elmira College 3
Records: Utica (13-9-4), Elmira (11-12-3)
Location: Utica Memorial Auditorium – Utica, NY
 
Utica, NY -- The Elmira College men's ice hockey team hit the road on Wednesday for what it hoped would be a Cinderella run from the sixth seed position to a potential ECAC West Tournament title. Unfortunately, an explosive third period comeback by Utica College ended the dream, as the Pioneers took the quarterfinal round matchup by a 5-3 final. The Soaring Eagles conclude the year with an 11-12-3 mark.
 
It was a tight checking opening to the contest with neither team able to generate much in the way of chances through the opening six minutes of the game. Utica got the best look of the early moments of the game, as Shawn Lynch picked up a pass between the circles and fired a wrister, which was snared by Elmira netminder Sal Maggliocco '17.
 
The game opened up as the period continued and with it tempers also began to flare. The Soaring Eagles had a glorious opportunity to take the lead in the contest with just under 12 minutes to go in the frame. Rob Simpson '16 fired a hard slap shot through traffic, which sailed just wide of the cage. The puck caromed off the end boards and squeezed back out the far side. Carter Shinkaruk '16 was in perfect position, stepping into a one-timer, but Pioneers' goaltender Michael Fredrick was cat-like quick to slide right and steer the puck away with the right pad.
 
Just a few minutes later, the Purple and Gold were again buzzing in the Utica zone. Kenny Tencza '19 chased down a puck around the boards and whipped a hard pass towards the crease. Michael Collins '16 had good position, but was unable to fight off checking defenseman, as the puck sailed just by his stick blade at the top of the Pioneers' crease.
 
Utica took advantage of the missed opportunities, snatching a 1-0 lead on the ensuing shift following Collins chance. The Pioneers Hayden Hanson corralled a pass at the center point and launched a hard slap shot towards goal. Nick Miglio made a deft play with the stick to deflect the shot over the shoulder of Magliocco to open the scoring.
 
Things got heated towards the end of the period, as fisticuffs seemed to follow almost every whistle. Both teams received power-play opportunities; however, the net-minders stood tall as the score remained 1-0 into the first intermission.
 
The Pioneers came out flying to begin the middle period, putting EC on its heels over the opening minutes. Magliocco made a pair of phenomenal saves just a couple minutes into the period, denying Miglio from netting his second of the game from right on top of the crease. Two shifts later he stoned Utica's top-line center Anthony McVeigh on a sprawling save, diving across the crease to keep the puck out at the left post.


Elmira kicked into gear midway through the period, flipping the game on its head. In the Soaring Eagles first real quality zone time of the period they got to work winning puck battles down low. Jeremy Marginsky '18 won a puck free to Tommy Sumi '16, who quickly whipped a pass to Tyler Theodoulou '18 who found a soft spot in the high slot. The second-year forward fired a wrister over the right shoulder of Utica's Fredrick to tie the game at 1-1 at 10:06 of the period.
 
Elmira took its first lead of the game towards the end of the period, getting a timely goal from its power-play unit. With Utica's Kevin Kirisits in the box for interference, EC got its man-advantage team on the ice for the third time on the night. As time wound down on the penalty, the Soaring Eagles worked a quick passing play. Mitch Atkins '19 moved the puck from behind the net to Eddie Nolan '17 who pinched down from the left point to the half-wall. The EC blue-liner spotted Michael Collins '16 who was uncovered at the far post and labeled a perfect pass to his stick blade. The senior center made no mistake, briefly dusting the rubber off before depositing it into the twine just after the penalty expired to make it 2-1 at 17:22 of the middle period.
 
Unfortunately, the second period comeback seemed to take a lot of energy out of the legs of the Soaring Eagles, who struggled to fend off a physical Utica side in the final period. The Pioneers found the back of the net four times in the third to take the game.
 
Magliocco was able to hold off a couple strong chances by the home side over the opening minutes of the period, but Riley Egan would level the score at 2-2 just over five minutes into the period. With the Pioneers pinning EC in its own zone with an extended offensive shift, Riley Egan took a feed in the slot and curled up a wrister, which found its way over the blocker of the Elmira goaltender.
 
With the Utica Auditorium beginning to rumble, the Pioneers fed off the energy. Hayden Dawes put Utica ahead for good with a goal at 10:13. Streaking down the left wing, he was hit in stride with a perfect stretch pass. He carried just inside the left circle, before burying a wrister between the pad and blocker of Magliocco to make it 3-2.
 
Utica's Kevin Valenti netted the back breaker with 3:36 to go. A couple of sloppy clearing attempts by EC led to a turnover behind the net. Alex Roberts sent a drop pass into the slot and Valenti pumped it home to double the lead at 4-2.
 
In typical Elmira fashion, EC showed its incredible resiliency down the stretch despite facing significant deficit to dig out of. Much like two weekends ago when Elmira twice came back from late game deficits to force overtime against Utica, EC looked poised for more late-game magic. With the extra-attacker on, Blake O'Neill '19 shuffled the puck to Jarryd ten Vaanholt '16 who hit Collins with pass at the bottom of the right circle. With lots of traffic crowding the crease, he fired a hard wrister, which skipped up the pads of the Utica netminder, bouncing over his shoulder and just over the goal line to halve the deficit at 4-3.
 
The comeback was not meant to be, as the Pioneers' Joel Wetmore sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 1:19 remaining.
 
Turning Point
While Hayden Dawes scored the goal that lifted Utica back into the lead, tonight's turning point came when Kevin Valenti sent home the Pioneers fourth. Still a one-shot game with under four minutes to go, Valenti capitalized on a couple Elmira miscues in its own zone to send home a back-breaking goal, which turned out to be the game winner.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Utica outshot Elmira 37-to-32 in the game.
• The third period witnessed 32 combined shots, as the Pioneers put 17 on goal, while the Soaring Eagles put 15 on target in the frame.
• Utica held a slight 40-to-31 edge in faceoff wins.
• EC went 0-for-3 on the power play, while UC was 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.
• Collins finished with two goals for the Soaring Eagles.
• Theodoulou netted the other Elmira goal.
• Sumi, Marginsky, Nolan, Atkins, O'Neill, and ten Vaanholt added one assist apiece.
• Magliocco finished with 32 saves and four goals allowed.

 
News and Notes

• With the loss, Elmira concludes the year with an 11-12-3 record.
• Tonight's game avenges Elmira's 5-2 home win over Utica in last season's ECAC West quarterfinal round.
• Elmira fell to 1-10-3 when scoring less than four goals this season.
• EC finishes the season with a 4-8-2 mark in road games.
• Elmira falls to 3-2 all-time against Utica in playoff games, including a 1-2 mark at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
• Collins finishes his career with 36 goals, while he falls just one point short of reaching the 90-point mark with 89 career points.
• Sumi's second period assist was the 50^th of his Elmira career.
• ten Vaanholt's third period assist was the 55^th of his EC career.