The 2016-17 season is coming to a close for the EC basketball programs, as the men and the women gear up to host their final home games of the year this week. Elmira welcomes Empire 8 rival Alfred University to Speidel Gymnasium for a pair of league games. The Elmira women clash with the Saxons at 6:00 p.m., while the men's tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m.
  Elmira concludes the 2016-17 regular season with a pair of league games against the Bears of SUNY Potsdam this weekend. The Soaring Eagles, who have already clinched the No. 2 seed in the ECAC West Tournament, battle the Bears on Saturday, February 18th, at 3:00 p.m., before concluding the regular season with a 2:00 p.m. matchup the following afternoon. Sunday's contest will serve as Elmira's Class of 2017 Recognition Day, as the Purple and Gold will honor their five graduating seniors on-ice at the completion of the contest.
  Despite losses in their last two games, the Soaring Eagles are still in the driver's seat to clinch an ECAC West Tournament bid. Elmira welcomes seventh-ranked Hobart to the Murray Athletic Center on Friday, February 17th, for a 7:00 p.m. showdown; EC will honor its two graduating members of the Class of 2017 following the contest. The Elmira men conclude the regular season on Saturday, February 18th, with a 7:00 p.m. road bout against Hobart.
  Elmira's six-match homestand continues this Saturday, February 18th, as the Soaring Eagles open United Volleyball Conference (UVC) play with a pair of matches against two of the top teams in the country. EC opens league play with an 11:00 a.m. match against the third-ranked Ducks of Stevens, before facing the eighth-ranked Brewers of Vassar at 4:00 p.m.
  The early portion of EC's 2017 spring schedule continues with a midweek matchup against non-league foe, SUNY Oneonta. Elmira welcomes the Red Dragons for a 4:00 p.m. showdown at the Murray Athletic Center on Thursday, February 16th.
  For the first time in recent memory, the EC Cheerleaders will hold a special Class of 2017 Recognition Ceremony during its home-opening event of the winter/spring season. Elmira will recognize its five graduating seniors at this Sunday's EC Winter Challenge, which will take place at the Murray Athletic Center Basketball Dome. Sunday's event begins at 9:00 a.m., although the senior day ceremony will take place at approximately 5:00 p.m.  
 
  It was a challenging weekend for the Elmira men, who dropped a pair of ECAC West contests to Neumann and Manhattanville at the Murray Athletic Center. The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal from Spencer MacLean '20 in Friday's game against Neumann. Unfortunately, Elmira was unable to hang on to its one-goal advantage, as the Knights scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 victory.
 
Then in Saturday night's clash with Manhattanville, Elmira surrendered three consecutive goals, but another MacLean power-play score late in the second period helped kick-start EC's offense. The MacLean tally was followed by a shorthanded goal from Connor Powell '20 1:18 into the third period, which trimmed the Valiant lead to 3-2. Manhattanville answered with a controversial tip-in goal with 1:08 left in regulation – the EC bench and fans lobbied for a high-stick call on the goal, but the referees signaled for the Valiant goal to remain on the scoreboard.
 
  In a battle between two of the country's top teams, it would be the top-ranked Cardinals of Plattsburgh State that would prevail past fourth-ranked Elmira in a pair of ECAC West contests. Plattsburgh turned a 2-2 second-period score into a 4-2 victory on Saturday evening, before clinching the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament with Sunday's 4-0 win. As the top seed, Plattsburgh has earned hosting rights throughout the ECAC West Tournament, including the championship game on March 4th. Despite the loss, Elmira clinched the No. 2 seed in the tournament and is guaranteed home ice for an ECAC West Semifinal game on Sunday, February 26th.
 
Jessica Prance '17 had a standout weekend for the Soaring Eagles, as the Chaumont, New York, native scored both of Elmira's goals in Saturday's 4-2 setback. It marked the first time in her four-year collegiate career that Prance had produced a multi-goal performance. Meghan Fonfara '18 also had a noteworthy performance, as she finished the weekend with two assists, as did Kyle Nelson '17 who stopped a season-high 32 shots in Sunday's loss.
 
  In the penultimate week of conference games, the Soaring Eagles fell on the road to Ithaca and Nazareth. A slow start against the Bombers proved disastrous for the Elmira men, who trailed by 25 at the half and by as many as 30 points in the second half. Elmira would eventually fall by an 83-67 final score. EC got off to another slow start against the Golden Flyers on Thursday night, but would rally midway through the opening half to take a two-point deficit into the halftime break, 37-35. The Golden Flyer lead hovered around four points for most of the second half, until the home team pushed it to 16 points with five-and-a-half minutes to play in regulation. Elmira fought hard down the stretch and closed out the game with a 15-to-8 run, but Nazareth held on for an 80-71 win.
 
Three players finished in double figures against Ithaca, led by rookie sharpshooter Alex Ischiropolous '20 and his 21 points. Ischiropolous shot 9-for-20 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds. Justin Ruback '18 and Jesse Adelson '20 contributed off of the bench with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Justin Porrett '19 was Elmira's leading scorer against Nazareth, as the Dumont, New Jersey, native finished with 23 points, which tied his season high. Porrett also grabbed four boards and dished out five dimes. Senior Matt Davis '17 added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Hayden Harkins '18 chipped in with 12 points, all of which came from 3-point range.
 
  Elmira trailed by double digits in the third quarters of both road games against Ithaca and Nazareth last week, but a pair of late rallies from the Soaring Eagles made things interesting down the stretch. Ithaca led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter, but a 20-9 run by Elmira made it a two-possession game, 66-60, with 1:20 left in regulation. However, the Bombers tightened things up defensively in the closing minute to hold on for an eight-point win, 68-60. Emily Green '18 paced Elmira with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Danielle Cleary '18 logged her third double-double with 14 points and a career-high-tying 14 boards.
 
In Thursday night's road trip to Rochester, New York, Elmira trailed by double-digits at the half, 31-19, and by as much as 18 points in the third quarter, 37-19. Elmira was able to piece together a nice run to end the third quarter (18-to-9) to head into the final frame with a single-digit deficit, 46-37. EC continued to battle in the fourth quarter and pulled to within three points with 6:17 on the clock, 48-45, but Nazareth would fend off the Soaring Eagle rally for a 56-49 victory. Cleary was the only player in double figures for the Elmira, as the junior guard dropped a game-high 21 points. Rachel Vespucci '19 added seven points, as well as a game-high 11 rebounds.

  The Soaring Eagles snapped an unflattering nine-match losing streak with a trio of wins at this past weekend's EC Invitational. Elmira opened the two-day home invite with a pair of wins over Southern Vermont and D'Youville, before splitting on day two with a victory against Sage and a setback to 15th-ranked Lasell. All three of Elmira's victories took place in three sets, as did the team's setback to the nationally-ranked Lasers.
 
Classmates Ryan McDonough '18 and Matthew Buffum '18 paced the Purple and Gold over the weekend. McDonough finished with a team-leading 33 kills (3.00 kills per set), as well as 12 digs, four blocks and a team-high 10 service aces. Buffum was efficient with his swings, as the junior middle hitter posted an impressive .449 attack percentage with 30 kills (2.50 kps). He also served up seven aces and produced a team-leading 11 blocks, two of which went down as solos. Jeremy Best '19 finished with 102 assists in the four matches, including a weekend-high of 30 assists in EC's straight-set win over D'Youville. Defensively, Ryan Branigan '19 led the way with 26 digs.
  Playing for the first time since mid-October, the Elmira men dropped a hard-fought 6-3 decision to NCAA Division II affiliate Salem International on Saturday night. The Soaring Eagles were swept in doubles action, which included a pair of 8-6 losses at second and third doubles. Elmira looked to rally in the singles matches and started off well with wins by Anthony Colavito '20 and Chris Konow '18 at the second and third positions, respectively. Salem International claimed a straight-set victory at first singles to bring the score to 4-2, before Jordan Curtis '19 brought Elmira back to within one thanks to a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win at the sixth spot. However, this was as close as EC would get, as the Tigers picked up straight-set wins at fourth and fifth singles to close out the match.