Elmira vs. Nazareth
Game Details	Saturday, Oct. 28 | Pine Valley, N.Y. | 1:00 p.m.
Game Coverage	Live Stats: Stats Link
Nazareth Links	Roster | Schedule | Stats

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College field hockey team will welcome the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College to the Murray Athletic Center on Saturday, October 28, for a 1:00 p.m. Empire 8 Conference tilt to conclude the 2017 regular season. EC will also celebrate Class of 2018 Recognition Day with a special pregame ceremony in honor of its senior members.

LAST TIME OUT
Elmira came up on the short end of a 5-4 overtime decision on the road against Keuka on Tuesday night, as the Wolves scored two unanswered goals to force the extra period and capped off a 3-0 run with the game-winner. The Soaring Eagles wasted little time before taking an early lead, as Atu Machika '18 and Janie Kempf '21 scored consecutive goals in a span of 1:57 to pull ahead 2-0 inside the first eight minutes of the opening half. Although Keuka responded with two straight goals of its own, Kempf completed her first career hat trick by depositing back-to-back goals in the 48th and 58th minutes, which propelled EC to a 4-2 advantage. Keuka's Nicole Wilson would fuel the comeback, as she assisted on the Wolves' third goal, before tallying the game-tying goal with 3:34 remaining in regulation. Then in the 83rd minute in overtime, Wilson recorded the game-winner to register her own hat trick. Wilson paced all scorers with eight points (3g-2a), while Kempf led the Soaring Eagles with six points on three goals. Machika and Katie Carroll '18, who earned a pair of assists, each had two points for EC, while Megan Brain '18 picked up her first point of the year with an assist.

FRESHMAN PHENOM
Kempf's debut season at Elmira has been one for the ages, as the first-year forward has already etched her name in the all-time record books. The New Woodstock, New York, native ranks ninth in single-season history in goals (9) and is tied for 10th in points (19). Kempf's freshman season is the best in EC history since 2005, the year Kayla Blank '09 scored 12 goals and logged 30 points as a rookie. In addition, with three goals against Keuka, Kempf became the first Soaring Eagle freshman to post a hat trick in over 14 years.

WORKING OVERTIME
Overtime games have not been kind to the Purple and Gold in recent years. Although Elmira won two of its three overtime contests in 2014, the 3-2 win on October 25, 2014 vs. Houghton, marks the last such victory for the Soaring Eagles. Since then, EC is 0-3 in such games, including losses to Oswego State and Bryn Mawr a year ago.

SENIOR DAY
The seven members of the Class of 2018 will not only be honored prior to the start of Saturday's game, but will also take the field at the Murray Athletic Center for the final time. Brain, Carroll, Alison Mariano '18, Atu Machika '18, Alyssa Hollow '18, Sarah McCaffrey '18 and Julie Hockenberger '18 will look to guide the Soaring Eagles to victory in the last game of their respective careers. The EC community would like to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication throughout the past four years.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN FLYERS
Like Elmira, the Golden Flyers enter the 2017 regular-season finale with just two wins, none of which have come inside Empire 8 Conference play, as Nazareth sports a 2-15 overall record. In addition to an 8-0 thumping of Wells back on September 6, Naz secured a 6-1 home victory against Brockport  on October 17. Since then, however, the Golden Flyers have dropped two straight to SUNY Geneseo (4-1) and SUNY Cortland (6-0). Outside of the 14 goals produced in its two wins, the Nazareth offense has recorded just seven goals in its losses, nine of which were shutouts. Junior forward Jessica Livesey is amidst the best offensive season of her career, as she leads the team with 14 points on a team-best six goals and two assists. She posted a hat trick as part of a seven-point performance to guide the Golden Flyers past the Golden Eagles in their most recent win. A year after finishing third in all of Division III with 271 saves, junior goalie Kimber Nourse has been a workhorse once again in cage in 2017. She has racked up 250 saves this season, the most in the nation, equaling a conference-high 14.71 saves per game average.

SERIES HISTORY
The Soaring Eagles and Golden Flyers have met annually since EC's first varsity season in the fall of 2000. Nazareth has won 12 of the previous 17 meetings in the all-time series, although in the past five years none of the matchups have been decided by more than two goals. Six of Elmira's losses since the series began have come by a single goal. EC's last win over Naz came on October 21, 2006, by a 2-1 final score in overtime in Rochester, New York.