Score: No. 5 Elmira College 6 – Williams College 1
Records: Elmira (10-2-2), Williams (8-6-0)
Location: Lansing Chapman Rink – Williamstown, Mass.
 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Fifth-ranked Elmira College women's ice hockey broke a 1-1 tie in the first period, scoring five unanswered goals to secure a 6-1 victory on the road against Williams College. Half of Elmira's scoring came from the blade of one player, Maddie Evangelous '19, who produced her first career hat trick for the Soaring Eagles. With the win, Elmira improved to 10-2-2 on the season.
 
Despite trailing in shots, 12-8, Elmira was able to end the first 20 minutes of action with a 2-1 lead behind strong efforts from Evangelous and Katie Granato '19. Evangelous opened the game's scoring at the 6:19 mark with a beautiful one-timer just outside the crease on a feed from behind the net by Granato.
 
The one-goal lead stood until the 15:33 mark, when Williams' Chelsey Stevenson capitalized on a breakaway and scored shorthanded to level the contest at one apiece. Stevenson's goal came after a handful blocked shots from the Soaring Eagles, with the final block sending the puck into the neutral zone and setting Stevenson up for the one-on-one with EC's Kyle Nelson '17.
 
It took nearly three minutes for Elmira to answer, as the Soaring Eagles scored a shorthanded goal of their own to reclaim the lead. Granato beat the Eph's Marissa Anderson bar-down for the go-ahead goal, one that would hold up through the end of the first period.
 
The shorthanded goal by Granato set the stage for EC's lethal offense to take over. Granato's tally was the first of five consecutive goals for the Soaring Eagles, four of which came in the second period alone.
 
Evangelous struck for her second of the night just 3:02 into the period, scoring with the backside of her blade. The Evangelous goal, which was scored unassisted, was followed by a tally from Shannon Strawinski '19 at the 5:49 mark. Strawinski, who one-timed the puck past Anderson for the power-play score, was set up by passes from Kristin Chivers '19 and Granato.
 
Just about five minutes passed before Elmira stung the Ephs for another two scores in quick succession.
 
Strawinski made it a 5-1 Soaring Eagle lead at the 11:13 mark with her second tally of the night. The second-year forward received a long outlet pass from Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18, before speeding past the last Eph defender and setting up a one-on-one with Anderson. Some nifty stick work by Strawinski in front of the cage left Anderson sprawled out on the ice and allowed her to slide the puck in with the backside of her blade for the score. Sarah Hughson '18 and Lippiatt Durnell were credited with assists on the goal.
 
Just 1:34 passed until Elmira made it a five-goal lead thanks to the hat-trick effort of Evangelous. The sophomore winger was camped out in front of the Williams goal, before redirecting a shot by Meg Lahey '19 from the point and into the back of the cage. Lahey and Jerolman were credited with assists the Evangelous score, as the Purple and Gold took a 6-1 lead into the final intermission.  
 
The Evangelous goal wrapped up the night's scoring, as neither team was able to score in the third period, resulting in a 6-1 Soaring Eagle victory. Nelson made five of her 30 saves in the third period to earn her sixth win of the 2016-17 campaign.
 
Turning Point
After trading goals in the opening 15:33 of the first period, it looked like today's game was going to be tightly contested, especially with Williams holding the advantage in shots in the opening period. However, a shorthanded goal by Katie Granato with 1:37 remaining in the opening period ignited Elmira's offense and marked the beginning of the end of the Ephs. Granato's goal was the first of five unanswered tallies by the Soaring Eagle offense.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Williams outshot Elmira 31-to-27.
• EC went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Ephs came up empty on three chances.
• Eight different Elmira skaters registered a point.
• Evangelous and Granato produced three points apiece, tying for the game high.
• All three of Evangelous' points came on goals.
• Granato scored tonight's game-winning goal, shorthanded, and assisted on two others.
• Strawinski finished with a pair of goals, including a power-play score.
• Lahey, Hughson, Lippiatt Durnell and Jerolman each finished with one point apiece.
• Nelson turned away 30 shots en route to her sixth win of the season.
• 14 of Nelson's 30 saves came in a scoreless second period for the Ephs.
• Stevenson scored the lone goal for the Ephs, shorthanded and unassisted.
• Anderson took the loss for Williams tonight, after being pulled in the second period with 11 saves and six goals allowed.
• Christina Cleroux came in for relief duty for Williams and made 10 saves without allowing one goal.

 
News and Notes

• Elmira improved to 10-2-2 on the season.
• EC's all-time record against Williams improved to 13-0-1.
• Tonight marked Elmira's fourth-highest scoring game of the season.
• Three special-team goals were scored tonight; EC scored on the power play, while both teams scored shorthanded.
• Nelson moved into a tie for fifth place in program history for career wins (35).
• Johanna Eidensten '17 played in her 100th career game as a Soaring Eagle.
• Evangelous produced the first hat trick of her collegiate career.
• Evangelous became the first Soaring Eagle to score three goals since Meghan Fonfara scored thrice against SUNY Cortland on November 13, 2015.
• Granato recorded the third three-point performance of her EC career.
• Strawinski registered her first career multi-goal game.

 
Up Next
Elmira will be back in action this weekend for a home-and-home series with the Herons of William Smith College. EC hosts William Smith at the Murray Athletic Center on Friday, January 20th, at 7:00 p.m., before heading to Geneva, New York, to face the Herons in a 4:00 p.m. league matchup.