Elmira College (2-3, 0-1 Empire 8) at Houghton College (2-4, 0-0 Empire 8)
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 | 7:00 p.m. | Houghton, NY - Burke Field
Live Coverage

Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College men's lacrosse team will hit the road for the first time in two-and-a-half weeks, as the Soaring Eagles pay Houghton College a visit on Wednesday, March 30th. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Last Time Out
The visiting Golden Flyers from Nazareth College, ranked 13th in last week's United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III Poll, snapped the Soaring Eagles' two-game win streak on Saturday. Led by reigning All-American Luke Wooters, Naz scored nine times in the first quarter en route to a 17-4 victory. Wooters, the nation's leading point getter, assisted on the first three goals of the game and then scored a natural hat trick to end the first period. Despite the less-than-spectacular performance by the offense, TJ Leach '16 shone brightly, scoring a season-high three goals. Goaltender Cameron Prior '17 weathered the storm to record 21 saves, his fourth game with at least 20 stops on the season.

Schutt Shining
Freshman long pole Kevin Schutt '19 has entrenched himself as EC's staring LSM and has continued to show signs of progression throughout the early portion of the season. The Macedon, NY, native is now tied with senior defenseman AJ Bourdon '16 for the team lead in ground balls (29), slotting him fifth in the conference with 5.80 per game. Schutt has been a thorn in the side of the opposing offenses as well, causing 11 turnovers, including a career-best four against nationally-ranked Nazareth. He enters Wednesday's contest at Houghton fourth in the Empire 8 in caused turnovers per game at 2.20. Despite his imposing 6-foot-6 frame, Schutt isn't only a bruising defender. The rookie scored his first collegiate goal against Lebanon Valley on April 12th.

All-Time Series
The Soaring Eagles and Highlanders have met every season since Houghton added men's lacrosse for the 2013 season. EC has feasted on the Houghton defense over the years, posting some of its highest scoring games in recent memory. The Purple and Gold waxed the Highlanders 26-2 in their first-ever game in 2013. The 2014 meeting produced similar results, a 23-2 Elmira victory. Last season, the Soaring Eagles received a career-high five goals from TJ Leach '16 in a 14-7 defeat of Houghton.

Scouting Houghton
While Houghton opened the 2016 campaign on a four-game losing streak, the Highlanders will undoubtedly be motivated to hand the Soaring Eagles their first loss of the series after earning back-to-back wins in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Houghton knocked off Lyndon State College 10-8 in a tight neutral-site contest on March 22nd, before blowing out Anna Maria College 10-2 two days later. Wednesday's game marks the 2016 Empire 8 Conference for the Highlanders, after going 0-8 in their first year as a full-time member of the conference in 2015. Junior Paul Chapman and freshman Austin Andryshak have provided the majority of the scoring with 21 and 17 goals, respectively. Perhaps EC's biggest area for concern is at the X. The Soaring Eagles are last in the E8 in faceoff percentage (.321) and will have to contend with one of the league's top faceoff guys in Nathan Moore. Moore, a sophomore, has been successful on 56.6-percent of his draw attempts (69-for-122) in five starts.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will return to Campus Field for a pair of non-conference games, beginning with a 1:00 p.m. matchup against Alfred State on Saturday, April 2nd.