With an even 4-4 Empire 8 Conference record, the Soaring Eagles will be looking to stay inside the top-four of the league standings as Elmira travels to Hoboken, New Jersey, for a trio of games against Stevens Institute of Technology. The Elmira men will have their hands full, as the Purple and Gold will be searching for their first all-time win against the Ducks. This weekend's series begins with a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, April 14, and concludes with a nine-inning single game the following afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
  Elmira will be in search of its first E8 win of the season this Saturday, April 15, as the Soaring Eagles host the Pioneers of Utica College in league action. The two conference rivals will square off in a league doubleheader at Eldridge Park Stadium, with the opening pitch of game one slated for 1:00 p.m.
  Following finals week on campus, the Elmira men will make the short trip to Alfred, New York, to face Empire 8 rival Alfred University in league action. The conference tilt is scheduled for Saturday, April 15, at 1:00 p.m. EC will be eyeing its first win over the Saxons since 2010.
  The Soaring Eagles are still in search of their first conference win of the year after falling in a close five-goal affair to Hartwick College last time out. Elmira will have another shot at an E8 win this Saturday, April 15, when the Saxons of Alfred come into town for a 1:00 p.m. bout at Campus Field.
  The hunt for an E8 postseason bid continues this weekend for the Soaring Eagles, as they travel to Utica, New York, for a league contest against the Pioneers of Utica College. The opening serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, at the outdoor tennis courts on UC's campus. Elmira will be looking to extend its eight-match winning streak against the Pioneers, which dates back to the 2009 season.
  Although the spring golf season is still in the early stages, Elmira will compete in the second leg of the 2016-17 Empire 8 Conference Golf Championships, hosted by Nazareth College at the Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The final rounds of the E8 tournament are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15.
  It was a busy week for the Soaring Eagles, who played six times in a seven-day span, including five games at Dunn Field. Although the Purple and Gold only won twice last week, both wins came in thrilling fashion. Against Wells on April 5, Sam Plaugher '20 led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and made it all the way to third base with two outs. Dylan Bellinger '17 followed by plating the game-winning with a simple base hit back up the middle, propelling EC to a 3-2 victory.
 
On Sunday, April 9, the Soaring Eagles trailed Ithaca by one, 2-1, heading into the home half of the seventh, but the Bombers' defense was unable to close the contest on a two-out grounder hit by Harrison Zambarano '19. A fielding error extended the inning and allowed the tying run to score. An infield single from Will Jenkins '18 advanced Zambarano – the winning run – to third base, before another infield hit off the bat of Bryce Plante '18 drove in the winning run in another 3-2 triumph. Not only was the victory earned in a walk-off, but it marked Elmira's first-ever defeat of Ithaca in its brief three-year history.
  The Elmira men were winless in a pair of games against Brockport (19-5) and Hartwick (16-3) last week, but Saturday's Empire 8 bout featured some stellar play from goalie Cameron Prior '17. Despite taking the loss, Prior made 31 stops between the pipes, the second-highest single-game total of his career. In addition to his save total, the senior from Malden, Massachusetts, connected for his first career goal in the third quarter. After making a save, he carried the ball all the way to the 45-yard line on the ensuing clear, where he heaved it approximately 45 yards through the air for the score. A goaltender scoring a goal may be a rarity, but it is not the first time EC Head Coach Preston Chapman has witnessed the feat. On March 26, 1995, in a game against Cabrini College, Elmira goalie Bruce May '97 found the back of the net against the Cavaliers.
  Elmira went 1-1 in Empire 8 action last week, earning a 7-2 win on the road against Hartwick, before dropping a 6-3 decision at the Murray Athletic Center to Nazareth. Elmira swept the doubles matches against the Hawks, and prevailed in all but two singles matches en route to the victory. Patrick Tracey '18, Yaniv Kogan '18, Stephen Gervase '20, and Jordan Curtis '19 were all double-winners for the Purple and Gold.
 
In Saturday's clash with the Golden Flyers, the Elmira men picked up two key doubles victories at the second and third positions. EC nearly swept the doubles points, after going up 5-2 in each of the matches, however, Nazareth rallied at No. 1 doubles for an 8-7 (4) win as the two adversaries entered the singles portion of the match with Elmira leading, 2-1. Tracey quickly made it a 3-1 Elmira lead with a no-nonsense straight-set win at the No. 3 spot, 6-2, 6-1. However,  despite some strong performances by the Soaring Eagles, Nazareth would go on to take the remaining five matches on court to secure a 6-3 win. Of the five matches, two went into a third set, both of which were won by the Golden Flyers.
  Elmira posted a 3-3 record last week at Eldridge Park Stadium, earning a win over SUNY Canton and a doubleheader sweep against Medaille; EC also suffered a loss to the Roos of Canton, as well as two setbacks to conference power Alfred. Rachel Katzenberger '19 and Katie McDougal '18 shared the team lead in batting average (.400), as the two players combined for three runs and a trio of RBIs. Emily Clark '19 finished the week with a .333 batting average and drove in four runs with three extra-base hits, including a triple. Emily Carlin '17 went 2-1 in the pitcher's circle with nine strikeouts and a 3.05 ERA. McDougal also started in three games and picked up one win with a team-high 17 strikeouts, as well as one save.
 
EC turned a one-run deficit in the fifth inning into an 8-5 victory over the Roos of Canton to begin the week. Carlin, Clark and Katzenberger each delivered an RBI hit in the bottom of the fifth to give EC a 7-5 lead, and another RBI single by Clark in the sixth solidified Elmira's three-run win. Then in Wednesday's twin bill against Medaille, Elmira rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning and tied the game up at 1-1 on an RBI single from Hannah Lundgren '18. The Mavericks struck for another run in the top of the eighth, but a sacrifice fly from Chelsea Storch '17 scored Allie Krohn '20 in the bottom half of the inning to force a ninth. Carlin played the hero for EC in the ninth, as the senior's bloop single drove in the game-winning run in walk-off fashion. Carlin also got the win the pitcher's circle by tossing 9.0 innings with four strikeouts. Game two of the doubleheader saw Medaille take a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but a two-RBI double from Clark in the bottom half leveled the game at 2-2, before McDougal lined a single into center field and scored Clark in the third inning to put EC up 3-1. McDougal, who was also the game two starting pitcher, shut down the Mavericks the rest of the way out, holding them scoreless for a 3-2 victory.
  The 2017 season came to a close for the Elmira women in sunny Daytona Beach, Florida, last Friday evening at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) College Nationals. Elmira finished Thursday's preliminary-round action in fourth place with a score of 91.77, which was just 0.60 points away from third-place Montclair State. EC's performance on the bandshell in Friday's final round was superb and garnered a score of 93.18, good enough to place third out of the field of 15 teams. For Elmira, it marked the fourth consecutive season the Soaring Eagles have captured bronze at the national competition.  
  The Soaring Eagles concluded the 2017 season with a home split on the final day of the regular season. Elmira fell in the first match of the day to Nazareth in four sets, before edging SUNY Poly in a five-set thriller in the nightcap. Mark Kawecki '17 led the Soaring Eagles with 32 kills (3.56 kills per set), seven aces, and finished second in blocks (5) and third in digs (11). Ryan McDonough '18 and Matthew Buffum '18 also had standout performances, as the two finished with 23 and 20 kills respectively. McDonough also finished with the second-most digs (16) and service aces (4), while Buffum logged a pair of aces to go along with a team-high 14 rejections. Jeremy Best '19 amassed 86 assists in the two matches, while Ryan Branigan '19 totaled a team-best 21 digs.
 
After falling in the first match of the day to the Golden Flyers, Elmira bounced back by winning the opening sets against SUNY Poly to take a 2-sets-to-0 lead. Elmira dominated the opening set, much of that having to do with the serving power of Kawecki, and took the first frame by a 25-12 score. The second set was much closer, but EC proved to be too much for the Wildcats and claimed the second stanza, 25-19. However, SUNY Poly rallied in a big way and won the next two sets to level the match at 2-2. Leading 4-3 in the fifth set, Elmira pieced together a mini 4-0 run behind a kill from Buffum, as well as a double-block from him and Best, to pull ahead, 8-3. Dan Symer '19 also served up an ace during that stretch, which gave Elmira enough cushion to see the set the rest of the way out for a 15-9 win.
  Elmira went 1-1 a week ago, earning a 16-5 win over Wells on the road, before Hartwick served EC with a 10-5 setback in Oneonta, New York. Hayley Baker '19 paced the attack with nine points on six goals, which tied for the team lead, and a team-high three assists. Kyra McDonald '18 continued her scoring ways with six goals during the week, five of which came against the Express of Wells. Rachel Grampp '18 logged a team-high eight ground balls, while Sarah Hughson '18, Kelcey Crawford '18, and Lindsay Wargo '17 were close behind with seven apiece. Crawford also collected a team-best 10 draws and tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with three.
 
In the win over Wells, Elmira held a 6-3 lead at the halftime break but EC turned that three-goal cushion into a double-digit victory thanks to a stingy second-half effort that held the Express to just two goals in the final 30 minutes of regulation. Elmira put an exclamation point on the win by scoring seven unanswered from 11:24 to 3:16 in the second half.