Score: #6/7 Hobart College 6, Elmira College 4
Records: Hobart (1-0-0), Elmira (0-1-0)
Location: Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, N.Y.
 
PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- It was an eventful, and certainly exciting, beginning to the 2018-19 season for the Elmira College men's ice hockey team, but the Soaring Eagles would eventually fall short on their home ice in Friday night's season-opener to No. 6/7-ranked Hobart College, 6-4.
 
Hobart held a 52-40 lead in shots on goal and a 39-33 advantage in faceoff wins. The Statesmen were also more efficient with their power-play chances, as Hobart went 3-for-5 with the extra skater while the Purple and Gold were a mere 1-for-9 on theirs.
 
Nick Ford '20 led the charge on offense tonight for the Soaring Eagles with a pair of special-teams goals, both of which were scored in the third period. Ford tallied a power-play goal and scored shorthanded. Matthew Cuce '20 and Patrick Schmelzinger '20 added goals for Elmira as well, while Matthew Cousino '22, Connor Powell '20, Harry Kramer '20, Aleksi Ojala '21 and Jamie Dorsey '21 were all credited with assists.
 
Jake Sabourin '21 got the start in net for EC tonight and finished with 27 saves with five goals allowed in 34:14 of action. Gennaro Anzevino '21 came in for relief duty and made 19 stops with one goal allowed in 24:34 of action between the pipes.
 
Missed opportunities early in the first period set the tone for the opening 20 minutes, as the Soaring Eagles came up empty-handed on a trio of power-play opportunities. However, penalties would still play a large role in shaping the landscape of tonight's game with Hobart converting on 2-of-3 power-play chances.
 
Jonas Toupal broke the ice at 8:49 on the power play on assists from Zach Sternbach and Matt Pizzo. Chase Bell made it a 2-0 game less than three minutes later on another power-play chance. TJ Shultz was credited with an assist on the tally. Then, 1:26 later, Toupal scored his second of the period, this time even-strength, as Stenbach set up the scoring play with the pass.
 
Hobart marched into the first intermission with a three-goal lead, but EC quickly responded in the opening seconds of the second stanza with a goal from Cuce. Setting up the scoring play was an outlet pass from Cousino to Cuce, who carried the puck into the slot, before sniping it past a frozen Alexander Connal for the score just 28 seconds into the period.  
 
Momentum seemed to shift in favor of the Elmira men, but Hobart pieced together a pair of goals midway through the period to push its lead to 5-1. Sternbach tallied his third point of the night with a goal at 7:15 on assists from Lawson McDougal and Mike Faulkner. Julien Denicourt scored Hobart's other goal, this one on the power play, at 13:32 on assists from Zach Tyson and Tanner Shaw.
 
The Denicourt goal held up through the end of the second period, as the Statesmen carried a 5-1 advantage into the final intermission.
 
EC once again came out of the gates on fire in the third period. Ford set the tone with a great individual effort, stealing the puck at center ice before sniping the top corner for a shorthanded score at 1:01.
 
Just about seven-and-a-half minutes passed until Ford cut the EC deficit to 5-3 on another special-teams goal, this one on the power play. After winning a puck battle in the zone, the puck made its way out to Powell in front of the Hobart bench, where he dished it over to Kramer at the point. Kramer quickly gave it back to Powell, who sent a cross-ice pass to Ford at the right faceoff circle. From there, Ford fired a wrist-shot that whizzed past Connal on the glove-side and into the top right corner for the score at 8:30.
 
Elmira looked to be back on track to make an exciting comeback, but Hobart's McDougal extended the Statesmen's lead to three goals with a tally just 22 seconds later. McDougal scored from the slot and beat EC's Gennaro Anzevino '21 stick-side for the score. Shaw and Will Harrison were credited with assists on the goal.
 
With the game coming to a close, Elmira once again clawed its way back with a beautiful tip-in goal from just outside the crease by Schmelzinger. Dorsey began the scoring play with a pass along the boards to Ojala, who snapped a shot towards the cage where Schmelzinger re-directed it past a screened Connal for the score at 17:04.
 
Elmira pressed for another goal late in the game, and even played the final 1:12 of regulation without a goalie, but the efforts did not yield a score, as the No. 6/7-ranked Statesmen marched away with a 6-4 season-opening win.
 
News and Notes

• Eight different Soaring Eagles registered a point and four logged goals.
• Three of Elmira's four goals were scored in the third period.
• Ford scored his 37th career goal.
• Schmelzinger scored his second career goal this evening.
• Cousino picked up the point and assist of his collegiate career.

 
Up Next
Elmira will look to avenge tonight's setback tomorrow evening when the Soaring Eagles travel to Geneva, New York, for a rematch against the No. 6/7 Statesmen of Hobart. The opening puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at Hobart's arena, "The Cooler."