Following a three-game homestand, the EC men's and women's basketball teams hit the road for a pair of weekday Empire 8 Conference contests against Ithaca and Nazareth. The Soaring Eagles head up Route 13 on Tuesday, February 7th, to face the Bombers of the Ithaca, before concluding the week's action two days later with a Thursday, February 9th, showdown against the Golden Flyers of Nazareth. Both women's games are slated for 6:00 p.m., while the men's games are scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m.
  The top spot in the ECAC West Conference standings is up for grabs this weekend, as the Soaring Eagles travel to North Country to face the top-ranked Cardinals of Plattsburgh State in a pair of crucial league games. Elmira and Plattsburgh sit in a virtual tie for first place in the league standings with identical .929 winning percentages, although the Cardinals would edge out the Soaring Eagles based on the conference's tiebreaker rule of most conference wins (Elmira -12; Plattsburgh-13). Both contests are scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Plattsburgh's home ice at the Stafford Ice Arena.
  The 2017 ECAC West playoff picture did not get any clearer after this weekend's games, although the Soaring Eagles are still in contention of earning postseason berth. Elmira is one of two ECAC West teams (Hobart) with four conference games remaining on its schedule – the other six league members only have three conference contests left. EC sits in seventh place in the ECAC West, just three points behind sixth-place Stevenson and four points away from Nazareth and Neumann, who are both tied for fourth. Elmira faces Neumann and second-place Manhattanvillve this weekend in a pair of must-win games. The Soaring Eagles open the weekend with a Friday, February 10th, meeting with Neumann, before concluding the weekend with a bout against Manhattanville the following night. Both games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center.
  After a season-long 10-match road trip, the Elmira men return to the friendly confines of Speidel Gymnasium for a quartet of matches at the Elmira College Invitational. The Soaring Eagles will open the two-day invite on Friday, February 10th, with a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Southern Vermont, before capping the night against D'Youville at 8:00 p.m. Saturday's matches will feature the Soaring Eagles against Sage and Lasell at 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively.
  Elmira's 2017 spring season kicks off this weekend at the Murray Athletic Center. The Soaring Eagles host NCAA Division II affiliate Salem International for a 4:30 p.m. non-league match on Saturday, February 11th. EC will then face former E8 affiliate RIT in a 1:00 p.m. bout the following afternoon. The two matches mark the beginning of a six-match homestand to open the spring season.
 
  Elmira College's 35th Annual Athletics Alumni Weekend was another successful one, as alums from across the decades revisited their alma mater for a fun-filled weekend of sports. Six alumni games took place over the weekend, four at the Murray Athletic Center and another two inside EC's Speidel Gymnasium. The two-day event was highlighted by the finale, as the men's ice hockey team pulled out a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over Nazareth, which was followed by a post-game reception on the mezzanine level of EC's basketball dome at the MAC.
  The Soaring Eagles went 1-1-0 in a pair of ECAC West overtime games against Utica on the road and Nazareth at home. Elmira erased a one-goal deficit to league-leading Utica on the road behind a power-play goal from Connor Powell '20 late in the second period, his team-leading 12th tally of the season, which would end up forcing overtime. However, in the overtime session, Utica's Dalton Carter buried a slap shot through traffic for the game-winning score. Senior netminder Sal Magliocco '17 made 37 saves in the loss, but those 37 stops helped the Roslyn, New York, native move into sole possession of sixth place in program history for career saves.
 
Then in the following night's home contest against Nazareth, which served as the final event of Elmira College's 35th Annual Athletics Alumni Weekend, the Soaring Eagles treated the 1,118 in attendance to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against the Golden Flyers. Calvin Hughson '20 scored the game-opening goal 7:55 into the first period on a wrister from the point. Nazareth responded with a 5-on-3 power-play goal late in the second stanza, which would hold up through regulation and force overtime. It only took 46 seconds of the overtime period for the Soaring Eagles to find the back of the cage, as Pittsburgh native Anthony Parrucci '20 netted the game-winning tally on assists from Tyler Theodoulou '18 and Mitch Atkins '19.
 
  Elmira extended its unbeaten streak to 10 consecutive games this weekend with a 1-0-1 showing against No. 7/8 Oswego State. The Purple and Gold powered past the Lakers by a 4-0 final score on Friday night at the Murray Athletic Center, which was highlighted by Kelcey Crawford '18 setting a new career high with 36 saves. Crawford also set an EC program record for most saves in a single period with 22 stops in the third period.
 
The following afternoon's game would see the Soaring Eagles trail Oswego by two goals midway through the opening period. However, Elmira answered with back-to-back goals in a 34-second span to level the contest at two apiece. Maddy Jerolman '19 opened the scoring for the Elmira women at the 13:20 mark, while Sarah Hughson '18 notched a power-play goal with 6:06 on the clock. Neither team was able to break through for a game-winner, as the game ended in a 2-2 overtime tie.
 
  Elmira hosted three Empire 8 opponents in a five-day span (St. John Fisher, Stevens, Houghton) and although EC was competitive in all three games, the Soaring Eagles would come out of the weekend without a win. The Soaring Eagles held leads in the first half of each game and led by as many as three in the second half against Houghton, but were unable to hang on down the stretch.
 
Henry Cuffee '19 had a standout weekend for the Purple and Gold with a 17.3 points per game average on 59.4-percent shooting (19-of-32) and 5.7 rebounds per game. He score double-digits in all three games, including a 21-point performance – the second-highest single-game total of his collegiate career – against the Highlanders. Seniors Matt Davis '17 and Ryan Brooksbank '17 were honored prior to Saturday's tip-off with Houghton as part of EC's Class of 2017 Recognition Day.
 
  EC's struggles inside league play continued this past week with a trio of losses to St. John Fisher, Stevens and Houghton. Elmira was narrowly defeated by fourth-place Fisher, before suffering double-digit losses to Stevens and Houghton. The Soaring Eagles held the Cardinal offense scoreless for the final three minutes of regulation and cut the Fisher lead from 14 to six, but EC was unable to cap the comeback and eventually dropped a 59-53 decision.
 
Danielle Cleary '18 led the Elmira offense with 18.3 points per game to go along with 7.0 rebounds per contest. She posted 20-plus points in two of the three games, including a season-high 27 points against Stevens. Rachel Vespucci '19 averaged a double-double with 10.3 points and 12.3 boards per game. Vespucci logged a pair of double-doubles against Stevens and Houghton, the latter giving the Macedon, New York, native 11 double-doubles for the season. Her 11 double-doubles are with former Empire 8 Player of the Year Jennifer Parker '06 for the most in a single-season in over 15 years. Elmira faced some stiff competition at this past weekend's Golden Flyer Invitational, including two of the country's top-ranked teams in No. 2 New Paltz and No. 4 UC Santa Cruz. The Soaring Eagles gave the defending national champs, New Paltz, a scare by winning the opening set of their match. However, EC would drop the next three en route to a 3-1 win for the Hawks. Elmira then fell in straight sets to UC Santa Cruz, before ending the invite with a heart-breaking five-set loss to Johnson & Wales.
 
Matthew Buffum '18 finished with team highs of 30 kills and eight blocks. He produced a pair of double-digit kill outings, including a career-high 14 kill performance in EC's five-setter against Johnson & Wales. The junior middle blocker also registered six total blocks in EC's loss to New Paltz, his second-highest single-match total of the 2017 campaign.