Score: Elmira College 6, SUNY Cortland 3
Records: Elmira (5-8-0), Cortland (6-6-1)
Location: Pine Valley, N.Y. – Murray Athletic Center

PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- An impressive showing from the Elmira College men's ice hockey team in the first game of the New Year lifted the Soaring Eagles to a 6-3 victory over long-time rival, SUNY Cortland, by a 6-3 final at the Murray Athletic Center on Friday night. The triumph over the Red Dragons was not only EC's fourth in their last five games, but the no-doubt victory extended the program's longest-running win streak, as the Soaring Eagles have won all 40 meetings against their State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) foe. 

Elmira showed no signs of rust despite a near month-long holiday break. The Soaring Eagles scored the first two goals of the game in the opening period and added a third unanswered tally inside the first minute of the second period to jump out to a 3-0 lead, one the Purple and Gold would never relinquish.

Skating in the first game of his collegiate career, Cameron Mack '20 netted his first career goal approximately six minutes into the contest to give the Soaring Eagles an early 1-0 advantage. Mack beat Cortland netminder Drew Weigman short-side after receiving a pass from Eddie Nolan '17, who dished the puck to the rookie forward just to the left of the crease after carrying it across the blue line and down the left wing.

At the 12:38 mark of the stanza, Mitch Atkins '19 finished a scramble in front of the net with a back-hander to double the EC lead to 2-0.

The second period began with a flurry of goals, as the two teams traded goals in the first 2:14 of the frame. First-year forward Connor Powell '20 started the spurt just 54 seconds into the stanza with a monster slap shot from the slot following a turnover by the Red Dragons in their own zone. The rookie added to the cushion with his team-high-tying seventh goal of the season. Cortland answered quickly, as the Red Dragons needed only sixty-one seconds to make it a 3-1 game on a tally from Andrew McCann, his first of two on the night.

Kenny Tencza '19 and the high-flying Soaring Eagles, however, needed only 20 seconds to get that score back, allowing EC to regain a three-goal margin. Elmira then grabbed its largest lead of the night, 5-1, at the 14:09 mark of the second period on a tremendous feed from Matthew Cuce '20 to Nick Ford '20. Following a faceoff in the EC zone, Cuce hit Ford with a pass the length of the ice, setting up the latter one-on-one on Weigman's doorstep. Ford corralled the puck and flipped it into the upper-right corner for his seventh score of his rookie campaign.

Once again, the Red Dragons wasted little time before responding. This time, McCann needed a mere 1:44 before picking up his second goal of the night, trimming the deficit to 5-2.

Andrew Pucci '20, another member of EC's high-scoring freshmen class, accentuated the victory with the team's sixth and final goal of the night approximately five minutes into in the third period. With a full head of steam, he raced down the left wing side into the Cortland zone. With one defender to beat, he executed a beautiful backhand toe drag around Cortland's Wilson Vershay before finishing into the wide-open net with Weigman caught off balance.

While the Soaring Eagles taxed Weigman for six scores in the non-conference tilt, fourth-year netminder Sal Magliocco '17 was up to the challenge on the opposite end of the ice. Returning from injury for his first start since November 12th, Magliocco made 31 stops, 25 of which came in the final two periods, to pick up his second win of his senior season.

In Their Own Words
Head Coach Aaron Saul '98 on his team's performance in the first game following the extended holiday break...
"I thought it was solid. Our work ethic from the start of the game right up until the end was what we wanted, a full 60-minute effort. I was really proud of that."

Coach Saul on senior goalie Sal Magliocco in his first action since November...
"We certainly missed his leadership, being a senior and having played in big games. For him to come back from his injury and play like he did tonight, it was good to see. We're going to need him down the stretch."

Coach Saul on Cameron Mack appearing in the first game of his rookie season...
"We do a 'Player of the Game' here in our locker room and he got that tonight. It shows you what kind of character he has, pretty much practicing the whole first semester. Every day he showed up. He definitely earned his position tonight, and for him to get a goal, I'm just so happy for him."

Coach Saul on the win streak against SUNY Cortland...
"With a lot of new guys, they don't know a lot of the history of the program, so we do history lessons here. I told them we were 39-0 against Cortland and that I didn't want to ruin that record. At the end of the day, Cortland is a much improved team and it is a good win for us."

Coach Saul on the momentum gained heading into a matchup with nationally-ranked SUNY Geneseo...
"Here's our opportunity to beat the No. 6 team in the country at their place. We're really excited to play them. We've had some success against them in the past couple of years, so we want to keep this rolling. Tonight's win was great, but it's not going to mean much if we don't show up tomorrow night."

Turning Point
Elmira started off the game on the right foot, scoring the first two goals in the opening period to claim an early 2-0 advantage. While the momentum was seemingly swung in EC's favor for good with Powell's score just 54 seconds into the second period, the Soaring Eagles all but clinched the victory by immediately answering Cortland's first goal in a mere 20 seconds. Tencza's goal not only gave EC a comfortable three-goal advantage, but doing so in timely fashion quickly slashed any chance of a Cortland comeback.

Inside the Box

• The Soaring Eagles finished with a slim 35-to-34 advantage in shots.
• Neither team scored on the power play, as EC and Cortland combined to go 0-for-11 on the extra-skater advantage.
• Elmira committed five penalties for a total of 10 minutes, while Cortland was dinged for six infractions for 12 penalty minutes.
• Magliocco stopped 31 shots between the pipes for Elmira.
• Six different players scored a goal for the Purple and Gold: Mack, Atkins, Powell, Tencza, Ford and Pucci.
• Four different Soaring Eagles posted multiple points, as Atkins and Ford each had a goal and an assist and Tyler Theodoulou '18 and Harry Kramer '20 finished with two assists apiece.
• Drew Weigman made 29 saves in goal for the Red Dragons.
• Andrew McCann scored a game-high two goals for Cortland.

 
News and Notes

• Elmira improved to 5-8-0 on the season.
• EC has won four of its last five outings.
• With the win, the Soaring Eagles improved to a perfect 40-0-0 in the all-time series against Cortland.
• Friday's win was EC's second over a SUNYAC program this season.
• Elmira's six goals are the most that it has scored since netting seven on November 27th meeting with Nichols College.
• Magliocco picked up his second win of the season in his return from injury.
• Mack scored his first goal of the year in his first game of the season.
• Pucci also scored the first goal of his rookie season in the win.
• Cuce recorded his team-leading 12th assist of the year.
• Cuce extended his point streak to five consecutive games.
• Ford and Powell remain tied for the team lead with seven goals.
• Ford and Powell have each recorded a point in four straight games.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will look to earn their second consecutive win over a SUNYAC rival, as Elmira travels to the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena in Geneseo, New York, to square off against No. 6/7 SUNY Geneseo tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.