Score: #15/15 Buffalo State 4, Elmira College 0
Records: Buffalo State (12-3-1), Elmira (7-8-1)
Location: Buffalo State Ice Arena -- Buffalo, N.Y.
 
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's ice hockey team was unable to overcome three first-period goals by No. 15/15-ranked Buffalo State, as the Soaring Eagles fell in non-conference action tonight by a final score of 4-0. The bout, which marks EC's fifth against a nationally-ranked opponent, was played at the Buffalo State Ice Arena in Buffalo, New York.

The story of tonight's contest came on special teams, as the Bengals went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Elmira was held scoreless at 0-for-3. In addition to being shut out on the extra-skater opportunity, EC allowed a short-handed goal tonight.

This special-teams differential directly resulted in the first goal of the contest, as a Spencer Carter '20 roughing call at the 7:11 mark of the first period led to a power play for Buffalo State. It was on this extra-man opportunity that Vadim Vasjonkin would net his second goal of the year 46 seconds into the power play to put the Bengals up 1-0. Cody Symonds and Reid Bibb both received assists on the play.

Unfortunately for Elmira, this opened up the floodgates for the Bengals, as Buffalo State went on to score two more goals in the remainder of the first. Mac Wood started off the run with a five-on-five tally at the 11:26 mark of the period, before Vasjonkin netted his second of the evening less than four minutes later to give the Bengals a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

A short-handed tally by Reid Bibb about 13 minutes into the second period, added to Buffalo State's already comfortable lead, 4-0. Bibb was assisted on the play by Ryan Stayner, his second of the year. This lead would be more than enough for Buffalo State, as it would hold on for the remainder of the contest to take the 4-0 win.

In goal for the Soaring Eagles, Gennaro Anzevino '21 made 23 saves in the complete-game effort. After settling in after the fourth goal of the game, Anzevino performed admirably, as he held the fifth-highest scoring offense in the country scoreless in the final 27 minutes of play and he held the number-three most effective power-play unit in Division III to 1-for-6 on the extra-skater advantage.
 
News and Notes

• Elmira's record fell to 7-8-1, while Buffalo State improved to 12-3-1 on the season.
• Despite the loss, the Purple and Gold still own a winning record of 3-2-0 against nationally-ranked teams.
• With the loss, the Soaring Eagles drops to 7-3-1 in the all-time series against the Bengals.
• Tonight's contest was the first time this season that EC has been shut out.
• Elmira held the third-ranked power-play unit in all of Division III to 1-for-6 on the night.
• The last time the Soaring Eagles were held scoreless was on November 19, 2016, against Nazareth.
• Tonight ended a five-game streak of EC's top line of Connor Powell '20, Nick Ford '20 and Matthew Cuce '20 each tallying at least one point.
• With 23 saves tonight, Anzevino increased his team-lead in that category to 231.

 
Up Next
Elmira returns to the ice tomorrow evening, when the Soaring Eagles welcome the Bengals to the Murray Athletic Center for the second bout of the two team's weekend two-game set. The opening puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m.