The 35th Annual Elmira College Athletics Alumni Weekend is only a few days away. Festivities begin on Friday, February 3rd, with a pair of basketball games at Speidel Gymnasium, as the Soaring Eagles clash with the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology starting at 6:00 p.m. EC women's ice hockey is also in action on Friday night with a 7:00 p.m. ECAC West bout against Oswego State at the Murray Athletic Center.
 
Saturday's events begin bright and early at 10:00 a.m. at Speidel, as the women's volleyball team hosts an alumni game, followed by the men's basketball alumni game at 11:00 a.m. Alumni games will also take place up at the Murray Athletic Center, starting with men's ice hockey at 10:00 a.m. Women's soccer will hold their alumni game at 10:30 a.m., while men's soccer's game will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday's alumni games conclude with a softball contest at 4:00 p.m. inside the basketball dome at the MAC.
 
Saturday's varsity sporting events will feature all four of Elmira's winter teams. Women's and men's basketball host Houghton at Speidel at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively. Elmira will honor its graduating members of the Class of 2017 prior to the start of both games. Women's and men's ice hockey are also in action on Saturday with a pair of ECAC West games. The women host Oswego State at 3:00 p.m., followed by the men's game against Nazareth at 7:00 p.m.
  Following a weekend trip to Oneonta, N.Y., last Saturday, the Elmira College men's and women's basketball teams embark on a three-game homestand, starting with an E8 showdown with St. John Fisher this Tuesday, January 31st, starting at 6:00 p.m. Elmira will also host Stevens and Houghton on Friday and Saturday, February 3rd and 4th, respectively. There is no admission cost for any of the six games this week, which will all take place inside EC's Speidel Gymnasium.
  The fifth-ranked Soaring Eagles will host No. 7/8 nationally-ranked Oswego State in ECAC West action this weekend, starting with a 7:00 p.m. showdown with the Lakers on Friday, February 3rd. Elmira sits atop the conference standings with an 11-0-1 league record, while Oswego sits in third place at 9-3-0. A pair of wins for Elmira would go a long way in solidifying a bye in the opening round of the ECAC West Playoffs. A fan shuttle bus is available for both games this weekend – they will depart the campus bus loop at approximately 45 minutes prior to the start of the game and will leave the MAC roughly 15 minutes after the conclusion of the contest.
  Following a 1-1-0 week, the Elmira men are chomping at the bit to move up in the league standings and will have the chance to do just that during this weekend's ECAC West games. Elmira travels to face league-leading Utica on Friday, February 3rd, at 7:00 p.m. at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Soaring Eagles will then take on fourth-place Nazareth the following night at the Murray Athletic Center at 7:00 p.m. Elmira currently sits in seventh place, although, wins this weekend could help the Purple and Gold make a late-season playoff push. A fan shuttle bus is available to EC students for Saturday's game – the bus will leave the campus bus loop at 6:15 p.m. and will depart the MAC at approximately 9:15 p.m.
  Elmira's challenging non-league schedule continues this weekend with a trip to Rochester, New York, to compete in the Nazareth Tournament. The Soaring Eagles open the tournament on Friday, February 3rd, with a 4:00 p.m. meeting with defending national champion SUNY New Paltz, who are ranked second in the country, before clashing with fourth-ranked UC Santa Cruz later that night at 6:00 p.m. EC concludes the tournament the following afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. bout with Johnson & Wales.
 
  The Soaring Eagles split a pair of ECAC West contests last week, falling to Stevenson in overtime, 4-3, before trouncing Lebanon Valley by a 7-1 final score. Elmira trailed Stevenson by two goals late in the second period, but a power-play score by Tyler Theodoulou '18 with 56 ticks left on the clock cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the final intermission. Then, with the game coming to a close, rookie standout Connor Powell '20 sent the game into overtime with an extra attacker goal with 1:07 remaining in regulation. Unfortunately for Elmira, Stevenson's Mike Davis would tally the game-winner with just four seconds left in the overtime session to hand EC its sixth conference loss of the season.
 
Saturday night's contest against Lebanon Valley was a much different story, in large part due to EC's five-goal first-period explosion. Matthew Cuce '20 broke the ice with the game's first goal, one that was scored on the power play, just 37 seconds into regulation. That tally set the tone for the rest of the way out, as EC scored six unanswered goals en route to a 7-1 victory. Elmira's special teams shined in the victory, as its power-play unit connected on 3-of-8 chances (37.5%) and its penalty kill unit held Lebanon Valley's league-leading power play without an extra skater goal on 11 power-play opportunities. Chris Moses '19 scored his first collegiate goal in the win, a shorthanded tally at the 18:52 mark of the first period – Chris' father, Tom Moses '92 – a former captain of the Soaring Eagles in 1991-92 – was also in attendance to see his son's first EC goal.
  Elmira picked up its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent last Tuesday night, as the Soaring Eagles dealt No. 8/10 Amherst a 4-0 shutout loss. Katie Granato '19 led the way with three points on two goals and an assist, her first of two three-point performances during the week. Kelcey Crawford '18 made a career-high 32 saves in the victory, which also marked the first time in her EC career that the Purcellville, Virginia, native logged 30-plus saves in a single game.
 
EC then clashed with Utica in a home-and-home ECAC West series, which began with a 2-2 overtime tie on UC's home ice on Saturday afternoon. Elmira held a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, but the Pioneers rallied to salvage the tie. The second game of the series resulted in a 5-2 victory for the Soaring Eagles, as the Elmira women remained in first place in the conference standings. Granato once again led the charge with a three-point effort on two goals and one assist.
  After a thrilling three-point win over Ithaca on January 21st, the Soaring Eagles dropped back-to-back E8 games to Nazareth and Hartwick. Justin Porrett '19 was the only Soaring Eagle in double figures against the Golden Flyers with 11 points to go along with four assists. Elmira struggled to find buckets in the clash with Nazareth, shooting 27.5% from the floor (14-of-51), although, EC did find its rhythm from the charity stipe at 93.8% (15-for-16).
 
Following the loss to Nazareth, Elmira went on the road and fought valiantly in a 78-63 setback to Hartwick. EC's shooting was much improved from the previous game, as EC knocked down 23-of-48 attempts from the field (47.9%), which included a 12-for-22 mark from 3-point range (54.5%). Hayden Harkins '18 led the way with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from distance. The six makes helped the Tampa native move in sole possession of fifth pace in EC history with 159 made 3-point baskets. Sophomore big-man Henry Cuffee '19 also had a noteworthy performance with 14 points and seven boards.  
  Elmira posted a 1-2 record last week with a double-digit win over Wells, as well as a pair of conference losses to Nazareth and Hartwick. The Soaring Eagles dropped a 71-56 decision to the Golden Flyers to begin the week. EC had matched Nazareth bucket-for-bucket through three quarters and was level with visitors at the 9:10 mark, 48-48. However, EC was unable to maintain its offensive production down the stretch, as the Golden Flyers closed out the game with a 23-to-8 run.
 
Two days later, Elmira used a 26-to-8 fourth quarter to blow past visiting Wells by a 69-50 final score. Highlighting Elmira's big win was Danielle Cleary '18, who finished with a double-double with 26 points and 11 boards. The 26 points helped Cleary become the sixth player in program history to score 1,000 career points, and the first do so in her junior season since former All-American Jessica Zoltowski '14. Cleary became the third player in the last four years to reach the 1,000-point plateau, all under Head Coach Shannon Howley. The win and 1,000-point milestone celebration was short lived, as Elmira closed out the week with a 74-53 loss on the road to Hartwick.
  The Soaring Eagles hit the road for a pair of invites in the states of Virginia and Maryland, however, a change of scenery did little to help Elmira's win-loss record, as EC posted a 0-4 record. Elmira began the weekend getaway in Arlington, Va., at the Marymount Invite, and suffered a 3-1 loss to Marian, before dropping a straight-set decision to 12th-ranked Marymount. Ryan McDonough '18 and Matthew Buffum '18 led the way with 20 kills apiece at the invite, while the duo also combined for 18 digs and nine blocks.
 
Elmira turned up the energy the following day at the Stevenson Invite, pushing its opposition to the brink in both matches, before falling in to Southern Virginia and No. 12 Stevenson in five sets. EC trailed 2-sets-to-0 in both matches, but clawed its way back in both to make things interesting down the stretch. McDonough and Buffum led the way once again for EC. McDonough finished with 33 kills for a per set average of 3.30, while Buffum had a monster outing at the net with 13 total blocks, which included seven solos.