Elmira begins its third season of collegiate ball this Tuesday, February 21st, as the Soaring Eagles travel to the commonwealth of Virginia to face the Captains of Christopher Newport University. Tuesday's season-opener is set for 2:00 p.m. – live stats and video will be available for the season opener, courtesy of CNU Athletics.
  A turbulent winter with blistering cold temperatures mixed with unseasonably warm weather has not derailed the start of the men's lacrosse season, as the Soaring Eagles head to Aston, Pennsylvania, to open the 2017 season against Neumann University. The non-league tilt is set for 3:30 p.m. and will have live stats available for fans to follow along.
  Following a weekend sweep of SUNY Potsdam, the No. 4/5 Elmira women await to see who they will face in the ECAC West Semifinals. The Soaring Eagles clinched the No. 2 seed a week ago, giving the Purple and Gold a first-round bye. Elmira will face the highest remaining seed in the semifinal round this Sunday, February 26th, at 3:00 p.m. Sunday's semifinal location will be announced in the following days. Live video, audio and stats will be available for Sunday's semifinal action.
  After a six-match homestand, the Soaring Eagles are back on the road for a full slate of non-conference matches. Elmira begins the week with a 7:00 p.m. showdown against Ramapo College on Wednesday, February 22nd, before traveling to Utica, New York, the following Friday and Saturday for a two-day invite, hosted by SUNY Poly. Live stats and video will be available for Elmira's clash with Ramapo.
 
  The Elmira men needed two wins against seventh-ranked Hobart College to solidify a spot in this year's ECAC West Tournament. Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, the Statesmen swept the weekend series, thus eliminating the Purple and Gold from postseason contention. Hobart opened the weekend with a lopsided 7-1 victory on its home ice at "The Cooler" in Geneva, New York, on Saturday night. The Statesmen tallied twice in the opening frame, but Matthew Cuce '20 cut the Hobart lead to one with his sixth goal of the season early in the second stanza. However, Hobart went on to score five unanswered goals en route to the win.
 
Then in Sunday's season finale at the First Arena in downtown Elmira, the Statesmen edged the Soaring Eagles on senior night by a 3-1 final score. It was a physical game to say the least, as the two teams combined for 101 penalty minutes. After a scoreless first period, Hobart struck twice in the second period with a shorthanded goal and a power-play tally in a 1:50 span to take a 2-0 lead. EC's Nick Ford '20 answered in the third period with a power-play goal on a rocket from the left faceoff dot, cutting the visitor's lead to 2-1. However, another power-play goal from the Statesmen in the final 1:21 of regulation handed Elmira a two-goal loss. Post-game, the EC coaching staff honored its two graduating members of the Class of 2017 for the contributions to the program over the years.
 
  Elmira closed out the 2016-17 regular season in style, as the Soaring Eagles picked up a pair of wins against SUNY Potsdam to sweep the regular season series. The Purple and Gold scored a 3-1 win in the opening game of the series on Saturday, before rolling over the visitors on Sunday evening by a 6-1 final score. Second-period goals by Katie Granato '19 and Shannon Strawinski '19 helped EC overcome a slow start in the opening game. Captain Johanna Eidensten '17 tallied the third and final goal for the Soaring Eagles on the power play.
 
Game two of the series was controlled by Elmira from the opening faceoff. EC launched 19 shots on goal in the opening period, accounting for just a fraction of the team's 47 total shots. The lopsided shot count helped the Soaring Eagles put the Bears on their heels early, as the EC women struck for three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Those three tallies set the tone for the rest of the way out, as Elmira cruised to a 6-1 win. Jessica Prance '17 scored the game-winning goal on Sunday, a day that EC honored its five graduating members of the Class of 2017.
 
  The 2016-17 season came to a close for the Soaring Eagles this past Saturday, as the EC men finished the year with a trio of double-digit setbacks to Empire 8 opponents. Elmira dropped an 84-66 decision in the team's home finale on Tuesday night to Alfred, which was followed by road losses to St. John Fisher, 75-63, and Utica, 70-36.
 
Hayden Harkins '18 paced the Elmira offense with 10.3 points per game on 11-of-22 shooting from the field (50%) and a 7-for-17 mark from 3-point range (41.2%). Justin Porrett '19 was not far behind with a 9.3 points per game average and a team-leading 4.3 boards per game.
 
  Elmira went 1-2 in the final week of the regular season, earning a 68-59 win over Alfred, before dropping a pair of double-digit contests on the road to St. John Fisher and Utica. In Elmira's win over the Saxons, three players finished with double figures in Rachel Vespucci '19, Lindsey Heaton '19 and Emily Green '18. Vespucci paced the pack with a career-high 25 points to go along with a team-high nine boards. Heaton chipped in with 17 buckets and three assists, while Green added 12 points and five boards.
 
Vespucci finished the week with a team-leading scoring average of 18.0 points per game and a team-high 12.0 rebounds per game. She was 17-of-33 from the field (51.5%) and 20-for-23 from the charity stripe (87.0%). Danielle Cleary '18 averaged 14.0 points and 7.7 boards per game, while logging five blocks and five steals. Green also ended the week with a double-digit scoring average of 11.7 points per game.
 
  Elmira welcomed second-ranked Stevens and eighth-ranked Vassar to Speidel Gymnasium for a pair of United Volleyball Conference matches. EC came up short in both matches in straight sets, as the Purple and Gold opened conference play with a 0-2 mark.
 
Ryan McDonough '18 had a solid weekend for the Soaring Eagles with a pair of match-high performances. McDonough logged 17 kills against Stevens, 11 of which came in the third set alone, before registering 11 kills in the nightcap against Vassar. Ryan Branigan '19 produced seven digs in the two matches, both of which were team highs, while Jeremy Best '19 amassed 55 assists in the two setbacks.
  In the team's lone match of the week, Elmira came out on the wrong end of an 8-1 decision against the Red Dragons of SUNY Oneonta. Elmira's lone victory in the match came at the number one doubles position, as Patrick Tracey '18 teamed up with Theo Tran '20 for an exciting 9-8 (7-5) victory. The duo had a handful of match points before heading into the tiebreaker, but a highly-talented Red Dragon squad fought off the points to extend the match. In the breaker, EC held a 5-3 lead, but two consecutive points by Oneonta leveled it at 5-5. Thankfully, Tracey and Tran were able to hang on down the stretch to win the final two points and secure their first doubles win of the season.