Elmira, NY -- This past weekend was truly one for the record books for Elmira College Athletics. The Elmira College women's ice hockey team highlighted the action, as it traveled to Plattsburgh, NY, for the Final Four of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Unfortunately, the title eluded the Soaring Eagles, who settled for third-place after a resounding win over Middlebury College in the consolation game. Hockey was not the only thing on the docket for EC Athletics. EC women's lacrosse, men's volleyball and men's tennis all witnessed changes to their respective all-time record books this past weekend, while men's lacrosse and baseball continued to stay red-hot. Get the recap on all the action in the latest edition of Soaring Eagles Weekly!
 
Headlines for the Week Ahead
 
Men's Volleyball to Host Senior Recognition Day on Thursday vs. Keuka College
The nationally-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball team will honor its Class of 2016 when it welcomes Keuka College for a 6:00 p.m. tilt at Speidel Gymnasium on Thursday, March 24^th. The EC men will recognize the six members of its graduating class in a pregame ceremony preceding opening serve.
 
Baseball Welcomes Medaille College and St. John Fisher for Home Opening Week
The Elmira College baseball team will make its much anticipated home debut this week when it welcomes Medaille College and St. John Fisher College to Dunn Field. First, the Soaring Eagles will take on the Mavericks in a home opening doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22^nd. The Purple and Gold continue their homestand when it opens Empire 8 Conference play against St. John Fisher College. Elmira begins the series with the Cardinals at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 25^th, while the teams clash in a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m. the following afternoon.
 
Men's Lacrosse Opens Empire 8 Play Against Nationally-Ranked Nazareth College
The Elmira College men's lacrosse team will look to extend its winning streak to three when it welcomes nationally-ranked Nazareth College for the Empire 8 Conference opener on Saturday afternoon. Opening faceoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.
 
Women's Lacrosse Begins Empire 8 Play on the Road at Ithaca, Utica
The Elmira College women's lacrosse team will look to build on its first victory of the season this past Saturday when it hits the road for a pair of Empire 8 Conference contests this week. The Soaring Eagles are set to begin the conference slate on Wednesday, March 23^rd, when they make the short trip up Route 13 to face Ithaca College at 4:00 p.m. EC continues its road swing this Saturday, March 26^th, when it faces the Pioneers at 1:00 p.m.
 
Men's Volleyball Hit the Road for Big UVC Tri-Match at Vassar
The Elmira College men's volleyball team continues its biggest week this season when it engages in its biggest tri-match of the season at Vassar College. While not technically a must-sweep scenario, the Soaring Eagles find themselves in a position where two victories are nearly crucial in terms of securing a berth to the UVC Tournament. Elmira is currently on the outside looking in to the postseason. It will be no easy task, as both Vassar and SUNY New Paltz are in the national rankings. EC takes on tri-match host Vassar at 11:00 a.m. and New Paltz at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 26^th.
 
Elmira Cheerleading Heads to Advanced Spirit Nationals
The Elmira College cheerleading team returns to action following a three-week hiatus from competition when it travels to Providence, RI, for the Advanced Spirit Nationals on Saturday, March 26^th.
 
A Look Back at the Week That Was…
 
Women's Ice Hockey Takes Home Third-Place at NCAA Tournament Finals
The Elmira College women's ice hockey team returned to Plattsburgh, NY, for the second time in two weeks when it took to Stafford Ice Arena for the Final Four of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Unfortunately, Elmira's National Championship aspirations came to a heartbreaking end in overtime of Friday's semifinal matchup against Wisconsin-River Falls, as the Soaring Eagles fell to the Falcons 4-3.
 
In a phenomenally exciting back-and-forth contest, Elmira took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on goals from Maddie Evangelous '19 and Maddy Jerolman '19. The Falcons battled back, tying the game just 31 seconds after the Jerolman tally late in the second period, and taking the lead with a shorthanded goal 1:31 into the third period. However, Evangelous continued to have a monumental impact on the contest, as she equalized the game with 14:56 to play.
 
Elmira looked to have scored the game-winner early in the overtime period when Jerolman directed in a puck that was thrown into traffic in the crease. Although the puck crossed the goal line, the referee immediately disallowed the apparent score, calling that the puck was directed in with a distinct kicking motion. The Falcons drew a penalty shortly after, which they capitalized on when Chloe Kinsel speared home a puck off of a loose puck scrum in the crease.
 
Despite the disappointment of coming up short in such heart-wrenching fashion, Elmira responded with a resounding win in the Third-Place Game against Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon. It was again the EC rookies who got the Soaring Eagles off to a flying start, as Jerolman put Elmira up 1-0 just 14 seconds into the game.
 
Although Jenna Marotta tied the game for the Panthers shortly after the Jerolman goal, Elmira scored the final three goals to run away with the contest. Katie Granato '19 reestablished the EC lead at 2-1 with 5:22 left in the first period. Johanna Eidensten '17 and Jessica Prance '17 added goals in the second and third period, respectively. Elmira concludes its season with a 23-5-1 record.
 
For more information on EC Women's Ice Hockey, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Waters Sets Career Wins Record as Men's Tennis Swept Keuka 9-0
The Elmira College men's tennis team bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to Oswego State with a resounding 9-0 sweep of Keuka College this past Saturday. The Soaring Eagles posted lopsided victories at all three doubles flights and all six singles flights to move their record to 6-5 heading into Empire 8 Conference play.
 
It was a memorable day for Satchal Waters '16 who became the program's all-time career wins leader with his two victories at first doubles and second singles. He moved into a tie for the record when he combined with Patrick Tracey '18 for an 8-2 win in top doubles flight action. The EC senior surpassed previous record holder Gabe Cortes '11, notching his 59^th career victory with a 6-0, 6-1 win in singles action.
 
Waters was named Empire 8 Player of the Week for his historic efforts on Monday afternoon.
 
For more information on EC Men's Tennis, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Baseball Sweeps Three-Game Road Swing at Penn State-Harrisburg, Penn State-Abington
The Elmira College baseball program stretched its winning streak to a program-best four games when it looked impressive in sweeping a three-game road swing to Penn State-Harrisburg and Penn State-Abington.
 
EC opened the weekend set with a 6-3 win over Harrisburg on Friday afternoon. Nick Sampogna '18 turned in his second consecutive impressive outing with 6.2 innings of two run ball to secure the win. Dylan Bellinger '17 and Rey Colon '18 delivered the big blows in the second inning, breaking the game open at 5-0. Colon drove a two-out two-RBI single, while Bellinger followed with a two-run homer as part of a career-best four hits.
 
Saturday's contests were not as close, as EC used strong pitching and hitting to sweep both ends of a doubleheader against Abington. Rookie southpaw Andy Reed '19 got the ball in game one, tossing a complete game, allowing just one run in notching his first collegiate victory. Conor Bawiec '18 got the starting nod in game two, firing seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Bellinger and Bawiec continued to carry the offense, going a combined 9-for-16 with seven runs scored and six RBIs in the two games.
 
Bellinger was named Empire 8 Player of the Week, while Bawiec garnered the conference's Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday afternoon.
 
For more information on EC Baseball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Spoljaric's Historic Day Leads Women's Lacrosse to First Victory of 2016
The Elmira College women's lacrosse team rebounded from a 13-5 loss at the University of Rochester on Tuesday with a resounding 21-11 win over Wells College when the team returned to Corning Community College on Saturday afternoon. The victory was Elmira's first of the 2016 season, while it also marked the first in the career of rookie head coach Alexa Tardif.
 
Senior standout Moorea Spoljaric '16 had a historic day, dominating all over the field. She set new single-game program records for points (11), goals (11), and caused turnovers (11). She also collected 11 draw controls and 10 ground balls in a truly mesmerizing performance.
 
Five other Elmira players got in on the scoring act, headlined by hat tricks from Kylie Connell '17 (3g-1a) and Katie Baker '19 (3g-3a).
 
Spoljaric was named Empire 8 Player of the Week for her immense efforts on Monday afternoon.
 
For more information on EC Women's Lacrosse, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Lacrosse Goes 2-0 Against Cazenovia, SUNY Cobleskill
The Elmira College men's lacrosse team posted its first two victories of the season this past week when it bested Cazenovia College 11-10 in a mid-week matchup and SUNY Cobleskill 10-3 on Saturday. The two wins evened Elmira's record to 2-2 on the year.
 
Wednesday's contest was a thriller right off the hop, as the Wildcats and Soaring Eagles engaged in an extremely tight contest. The visitors jumped out to an early lead, but Elmira responded with four-goal run with TJ Leach '16 netting a go-ahead goal with one second remaining to take a 6-5 lead into halftime.
 
Elmira built the lead to 8-6 heading into the final quarter, but Cazenovia tied things up with two goals over a 47 second span early in the final quarter. The teams traded goals in the spring to the finish with Nevin Olney '18 netting the winning goal off of a crazy offensive scrum with 2:53 to play.
 
The Soaring Eagles controlled things from the outset on Saturday against the Fighting Tigers of SUNY Cobleskill. EC scored the first three goals, taking a 3-1 lead to halftime. The Purple and Gold broke things open with four unanswered goals in the third frame, coasting to a 10-3 win.
 
Skyler Pradelski '16 paced the Elmira offense with eight goals combined in the two wins, while Cameron Prior '17 continued to be rock solid in the cage with 37 combined saves. He was named Empire 8 Goaltender of the Week on Monday afternoon.
 
For more information on EC Men's Lacrosse, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
Men's Volleyball Wins Pair of Five-Setters at Nazareth College Tournament
The ninth-ranked Elmira College men's volleyball team bounced back from a heartbreaking five-set loss to UVC rival Nazareth College this past Wednesday with two five-set wins over Medaille College and Cal Lutheran University over the weekend.
 
Elmira trailed the Mavericks two-sets-to-one in the opening match of the weekend, but rallied for a dominating fourth set to level the match. The Soaring Eagles took the decisive fifth set 15-12. Erik Griffin '16 led the way with 25 kills for Elmira, while Mike Ellison '16 chipped in 13. With the effort Ellison became the program's third player to collect 1,000 career kills.
 
The Purple and Gold carried the momentum into Saturday where the team outlasted West Coast squad Cal Lutheran in a match that went the distance. EC held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the match; however, the Kingsmen forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-22 win in set four. The Soaring Eagles dominated in the final frame, taking the match with a 15-6 win in the fifth. Griffin again led the way with 17 kills, which brings him into a tie with Ryan Gelenitis '14 for the program's all-time record for career kills with 1,440.
 
For more information on EC Men's Volleyball, please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.
 
The Week Ahead…
 
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Baseball vs. Medaille College (Doubleheader), 1:00 p.m.
 
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
*Women's Lacrosse at Ithaca College, 4:00 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Men's Volleyball vs. Keuka College (Class of 2016 Recognition Day), 6:00 p.m.
 
Friday, March 25, 2016
*Baseball vs. St. John Fisher College, 3:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 26, 2016
*Men's Volleyball at Vassar College, 11:00 a.m.
*Baseball vs. St. John Fisher College (Doubleheader), 12:00 p.m.
*Men's Lacrosse vs. Nazareth College, 1:00 p.m.
*Women's Lacrosse at Utica College, 1:00 p.m.
*Men's Volleyball vs. SUNY New Paltz, 2:00 p.m.
Cheerleading at Advanced Spirit Nationals (Providence, RI)
 
Bold Indicates Home Contest
*Indicates Conference Matchup