Elmira, NY -- The second week of March brought with it some serious excitement for EC Athletics. Highlighting the action was the Elmira College women's ice hockey team, which scored a thrilling victory over Adrian College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The EC men's tennis team continued its busy non-conference stretch with three matches on the week. The Elmira lacrosse programs both played their first games of the season on home turf, as men's lacrosse welcomed Lebanon Valley College on Saturday, while women's lacrosse played host to Lycoming College on Sunday. Rounding out the week's action was EC baseball, which made a three-game swing through the Keystone State, posting a program record-breaking performance on Sunday. Catch up on what you missed and mark your calendars for another exciting week ahead with the newest edition of Soaring Eagles Weekly!
 
Headlines for the Week Ahead
 
Women's Ice Hockey Set for NCAA Division III Final Four This Weekend
The Elmira College women's ice hockey team is ready to make its third appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA Division III Tournament over the last four years this coming weekend. Friday night will have a sense of déjà vu for the Soaring Eagles, as they are set to face the University of Wisconsin at River Falls in Plattsburgh, NY. Elmira bested the Falcons 3-2 in the same round of last year's NCAA Tournament to earn a berth in the National Championship Game. Opening faceoff at Plattsburgh State's Stafford Ice Arena is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 18^th. The winner will play the winner of the other half of the bracket where Middlebury College takes on the host Cardinals. Saturday's third-place game is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, while the National Championship Game will be immediately following at 7:00 p.m. For more information on this weekend's tournament, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Volleyball Welcomes Nazareth College for Big UVC Showdown on Wednesday
The Elmira College men's volleyball team makes its return to Speidel Gymnasium on Wednesday, March 16^th, when it welcomes nationally-ranked Nazareth College for a huge United Volleyball Conference rivalry match. The Soaring Eagles have gotten off to a choppy start to conference play and will be looking to even their mark to 3-3 in league play with a victory over the Golden Flyers. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
Men's Lacrosse Continues Homestand Against Cazenovia, SUNY Cobleskill This Week
The Elmira College men's lacrosse team continues its season-long four-game homestand with a pair of contests this week. First, the Soaring Eagles welcome Cazenovia College for a mid-week contest at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16^th. EC returns to action on Saturday, March 19^th, when SUNY Cobleskill visits for a 1:00 p.m. clash. Both contests are slated to be played at Notre Dame High School's turf facility.
 
Women's Lacrosse Visits Rochester, Hosts Wells This Week
The Elmira College women's lacrosse team also is set for a two-game week. The Soaring Eagles are set to hit the road for the first time this spring when they take on the University of Rochester at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15^th. EC returns home this Saturday, March 19^th, when it welcomes Wells College for a 12:00 p.m. clash. Saturday's contest is slated to be plated at the turf complex at Corning Community College.
 
Men's Tennis Welcomes Keuka College to the MAC on Saturday
The Elmira College tennis team is back in action this Saturday, March 19^th, when it welcomes Keuka College to the Murray Athletic Center Tennis Dome for a 12:00 p.m. contest. It will be the team's last non-conference match, before the start of Empire 8 Conference play.
 
Baseball Heads to Pennsylvania for Second Consecutive Weekend
The Elmira College baseball team will cross state lines for the second consecutive weekend when they head south for another weekend swing through Pennsylvania. EC will take on Penn State-Abington in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 19^th. The Soaring Eagles also will face Penn State-Harrisburg in a single game, which will either be played on Friday, March 18^th, or Sunday, March 20^th. Stay tuned to the EC Athletics website for more information.
 
A Look Back at the Week That Was…
 
Women's Ice Hockey Bests Adrian College 3-1 in First Round of NCAA Tournament
The Elmira College women's ice hockey team came up with one of its strongest performances of the season this past Saturday night when it traveled to Adrian College for an NCAA Tournament First Round matchup with the Bulldogs. The win punched the Soaring Eagles' ticket for their third Final Four appearance over the last four years.
 
EC executed an excellent road strategy, using defense and special teams to beat the Bulldogs in a hostile Arrington Ice Arena. Maddie Evangelous '19 got things going for the Soaring Eagles at 14:38 of the first period, sending home her seventh power-play goal of the year to put Elmira up 1-0.
 
Elmira rode the strong goaltending of Kyle Nelson '17 to maintain the narrow margin into the final period. However, things looked very in doubt when Adrian capitalized on a power play of their own 3:06 into the third.
 
The Bulldogs' momentum did not last long, as Katie Granato '19 reestablished Elmira's lead with the man-advantage just 1:13 later to make it 2-1. The lead proved more than enough for the fabulous Nelson, who denied 29 shots with 11 coming while EC was shorthanded. Johanna Eidensten '17 iced the game with 26 seconds remaining with an empty-netter to extend her goal streak to five consecutive games.
 
For more information on EC Women's Ice Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Baseball Notches First Win of the Year in Record-Setting Performance on Sunday
The Elmira College baseball team returned to action for the first time since its spring training trip to Florida when it made a road trip through the Keystone State this past weekend. Elmira opened the three-game road swing with doubleheader on Saturday against Eastern University.
 
Starting pitching proved to be Elmira's Achilles heel on Saturday, as Eastern took both ends of the doubleheader in the battle between Eagle mascots. The Eagles tagged Elmira's Andy Reed '19 for eight runs in the first inning, chasing the rookie pitcher after just two-thirds of an inning. Eastern went on to win the opening game by a 9-1 final.
 
The second game followed a very similar trend to the first, as Eastern pushed across three runs in the first and six more in the second off EC start Conor Bawiec '18. Despite the large deficit, Elmira battled hard to get back into the game. EC pushed across two runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and four more in the seventh to cut the deficit. Unfortunately, the rally fell just short, as Bawiec laced a hard grounder right at the shortstop, which turned into a game-ending double play in the 12-10 loss. Despite the struggles on the mound, Bawiec had a solid day at the plate going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and one RBI.
 
Elmira bounced back in a big way to notch their first victory of the season on Sunday, demolishing the University of Valley Forge 31-2. The Soaring Eagles set new program records with 31 runs, 26 hits, and 24 RBIs. EC had 12 batters slug hits, with Cameron Heggie '18 and Dennis Rudolph '18 each recording a program-best five hits. Rudolph and Mike Ladka '16 each posted two doubles and five RBIs. Rudolph continued his strong day with five innings of two-hit scoreless work on the mound, which included a career-high six strikeouts.
 
Rudolph was named Empire 8 Conference Pitcher of the Week by the league office on Monday afternoon.
 
For more information on EC Baseball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Tennis Bests D'Youville in 1-2 Week
The Elmira College men's tennis team continued its busy non-conference slate this past week, posting a 1-2 record against Rochester Institute of Technology, D'Youville College, and Oswego State. Elmira opened the week with a difficult showing in a 9-0 loss on the road at RIT to begin the week.
 
EC rebounded for a pair of competitive battles this past weekend. The Soaring Eagles dominated D'Youville in a 9-0 shutout this past Friday. Elmira won 24-of-30 games against the Spartans. Austin Mansell '16 was especially dominant in a 6-0, 6-0 straight-sets sweep.
 
EC looked primed to secure the weekend sweep the following day against Oswego State. The Soaring Eagles led 4-1, but were unable to close things out during the final five matches of the afternoon. Mansell was the only Elmira netter to win both matches on Saturday.
 
Two Soaring Eagles are in prime position to break the program record of 58 career wins held by Gabe Cortes '11. Satchal Waters '16 sits just one win back of Cortes, while Mansell is right on their trail with 55 career victories.
 
For more information on EC Men's Tennis, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Lacrosse Comes Up Short in Home Opening Loss to Lebanon Valley College
The Elmira College men's lacrosse team welcomed Lebanon Valley for its home opener on Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame High School. The Soaring Eagles held an early lead through the first quarter, but the Dutchmen kicked the offense in gear to pull away in the second half for a 14-5 victory.
 
Trailing 1-0, Nevin Olney '18 and Skyler Pradelski '16 found the back of the net for the Soaring Eagles to take the 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, the Lebanon Valley offense began to gain traction during the second quarter, scoring four unanswered tallies to grab back control of the game.
 
After Olney tallied his second goal of the game to pull Elmira within 5-3 at the halftime break, but the Dutchmen scored eight straight to pull away. Kevin Schutt '19 tallied his first career goal and Anthony LaRusso '16 added a goal in the fourth quarter, but it would be too little too late for the Soaring Eagles.
 
Cameron Prior '17 was strong in goal despite allowing 14 goals, posting his second straight 20-plus save performance, finishing with 24 in the game.
 
For more information on EC Men's Lacrosse, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Women's Lacrosse Falls to Lycoming in Season Opener
The Elmira College women's lacrosse welcomed Lycoming College for their season opener on Sunday afternoon at Corning Community College. EC's young roster showed some significant promise against a strong Warrior outfit, but ultimately the visitors pulled away during the second half in a 21-9 final.
 
The Soaring Eagles fell behind 6-0 early, but Moorea Spoljaric '16 led a furious EC charge to get back into the contest. The Elmira senior collected five goals and an assist on a 7-4 Elmira run to cut the deficit to 10-7. Hayley Baker '19 also added her first two collegiate goals during the run.
 
Lycoming buckled down on the draw during the second half, putting together a seven-goal run to pull away. Kara Yakel '16 capped the scoring on the day with a goal, while Laura Powell '16 also added a second half tally for the Soaring Eagles.
 
In her first collegiate action, Payton Rusin '18 made eight saves in goal for EC. With the five-goal and six-point efforts, Spoljaric passed Ashton Hogan '15 for third-place on the all-time list with 123 goals and 146 points.
 
For more information on EC Women's Lacrosse, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
A Look Ahead…
 
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Women's Lacrosse at University of Rochester, 4:00 p.m.
 
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Men's Lacrosse vs. Cazenovia College, 6:00 p.m.
*Men's Volleyball vs. Nazareth College, 7:00 p.m.
 
Friday, March 18, 2016
Women's Ice Hockey vs. Wisconsin-River Falls (NCAA Final Four), 7:00 p.m.
Men's Volleyball vs. Medaille College (Rochester, NY), 8:00 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Women's Lacrosse vs. Wells College, 12:00 p.m.
Men's Tennis vs. Keuka College, 12:00 p.m.
Men's Lacrosse vs. SUNY Cobleskill, 1:00 p.m.
Baseball at Penn State-Abington (Doubleheader), 12:00 p.m.
Men's Volleyball vs. Cal Lutheran University (Rochester, NY), 3:00 p.m.
Women's Ice Hockey vs. TBA, 3:30/7:00 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Baseball at Penn State-Harrisburg, 1:00 p.m.
 
Bold Indicates Home Contest
*Indicates Conference Matchup