ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's soccer team continues play inside the Empire 8 Conference with a 1:00 p.m. contest at Alfred University on Saturday, October 1st, at Alfred's Yunevich Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT: The Soaring Eagles dropped their E8 opener by a 4-1 final on the road against Utica College last Saturday. EC played to a 1-1 tie at the intermission, despite a dominate 14-to-1 advantage in shots in the first half. The Pioneers flipped the script in the second half, however, and outshot Elmira 11-to-3 en route to a trio of second-half scores. Jordyn Rousselle '18 tallied the lone goal for the Purple and Gold, extending her consecutive game goal-scoring streak to three and her point streak to four games.

RED-HOT ROUSSELLE: With a goal in the loss to Utica last weekend, Rousselle has scored a goal in three consecutive outings. Ironically, Elmira's leading scorer a year ago began to heat up at about the same time during her sophomore campaign. She scored three combined goals in back-to-back wins over St. John Fisher on September 23, 2015 and Utica on September 25, 2015. Not only is Rousselle's three-game goal scoring streak a career long for the Stillwater, New York, native, but it is the longest registered by a Soaring Eagle since Emily Karpinski '14 matched the feat in September of 2012.

LEADING THE E8: EC goalie Amanda Banner '17 has been busy between the pipes for the Purple and Gold this season. Through Elmira's first seven games, the fourth-year keeper sits atop the Empire 8 Conference in saves per game with an average of 8.29. With 58 overall saves, Banner is currently on pace to set a new single-season career record while ascending the program record book. She needs only eight more stops to surpass Megan Lowe '13 (244) for ninth-place all-time in career saves.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Elmira has controlled the all-time series against Alfred with a 16-4-2 overall record. The Soaring Eagles will look to defend their 11-game unbeaten streak against on Saturday, which includes five consecutive wins. EC concluded last season with a 5-1 drubbing of the Saxons in the 2015 regular-season finale at Campus Field. Now-senior Niki Lemper '17 paced the offensive attack with a career performance, as she picked up two goals and two assists in the win.

SCOUTING ALFRED: After posting only one victory in 2015 and a combined four in its previous two seasons, the Saxons got off to a much better start this fall. Alfred began the year undefeated through its first four games, all of which were played on its home turf at Yunevich Stadium. The road has been less friendly to the Saxons, who enter Saturday's matchup with a 6-3 overall record, with all three losses coming in road contests. The matchup with EC is the first inside Empire 8 for Alfred, which hasn't won a league game since 2012. The AU roster is young, but the Class of 2020 is already producing at a high level. Freshmen Amanda Roberts and Lexi Riffelbach lead the team with 14 and nine points, respectively, while Kate Christiansen and Keira Palumbo have started all nine games on defense for the Saxons.

LOOKING AHEAD: The EC women return home to Campus Field for two consecutive games next week, beginning with a midweek tilt against Fredonia on Tuesday, October 4th. Kick-off for the non-conference matchup is slated for 4:00 p.m.