Score: No. 3/3 Elmira College 3, Manhattanville College 2
Records: Elmira (18-2-2, 12-0-1 UCHC), Manhattanville (9-11-2, 6-6-1 UCHC)
Location: Pine Valley, N.Y. -- Murray Athletic Center
 
PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- The No. 3/3 nationally-ranked Elmira College women's ice hockey team bested Manhattanville College by a 3-2 final score on Friday night at the Murray Athletic Center in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action.

Trailing by 1-0 after the first period of play, the Soaring Eagles needed to find an answer in the second period. EC responded quickly in the second period, as Jess Adams '21 tied the score at 1-1 with a goal at the 2:46 mark of the stanza. Adams' shot came off of an attempt from Sydney Harris '21, that Adams was able to tip through Rose Pijaca's, the Valiants' starting goalie, legs. Maddy Jerolman '19 also picked up an assist on the play.

Elmira took a 2-1 advantage with a beautiful tally from Emma Crocker '21 just under two minutes later. Crocker stole the puck from a Manhattanville defender and skated it straight into the offensive zone, where she buried a shot from close to the faceoff circle.

The Soaring Eagles' advantage lasted for a minute and a half until Tianna Lopes and Janet Xu executed an impressive one-two passing exhibit in front of Kelcey Crawford '18 to beat the netminder to her stick side.

Elmira capped off the exciting second period by taking the lead one more time, 3-2. Sarah Hughson '18 scored the eventual game-winner off of streaking pass from Harris, which Hughson took to beat one defender before sneaking the puck right past Pijaca on her stick side. Crawford earned her first collegiate assist on the play by tossing the puck to Harris before she made the long pass to Hughson. 

After all of the action in the second period, the third was much quieter, as neither team scored in the stanza. Crawford shined in the third, as she made 14 of her 33 saves in the period. She was especially strong in the final 1:16, as an EC penalty and the Valiants pulling their goalie resulted in two extra attackers for the road team. Crawford withstood all of the pressure, making four saves in the stretch to seal the conference win.
 
In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Tim Crowley when asked about the importance of facing adversity and overcoming obstacles in tightly-contested games, such as Friday's one-goal win…
"I think it's huge. For us, today was one of the first times that we had an opportunity to respond to adversity and actually come out on top and make some plays when needed. We're happy about that."
 
Coach Crowley when asked about Sarah Hughson's game-winning goal…
"It was a great individual effort. She was kind of all alone, and she was able to make a move on the stick-side of things and finish. Once again, a big goal for us in a key moment. It's a credit to the work she's put in this year. She's having a really good year for us."
 
Coach Crowley on the performance of Elmira's freshman class in the victory vs. Manhattanville…
"Today was a game where we really didn't get production from some players that have been producing as of late, so it's nice to get production from some other lines and have some other kids step up. Our freshmen have been great for us this year and have been playing in key moments. Emma (Crocker) made a nice play there, Sydney (Harris) made a nice play getting the puck through, and Jess made a nice tip. I thought they all played really well tonight."
 
Coach Crowley on what the Soaring Eagles need to do differently in the series finale on Saturday to avoid another heart-wrenching game…
"We can start with no turning over the puck as much. I think a lot of our problems today were caused by ourselves not making tape-to-tape passes, not breaking out as a group and not maintaining possession. At times we carried the play, but our D-zone needs to clean up a little bit for us to have success later on this year."

News and Notes

• Elmira improved to 18-2-2 overall and 12-0-1 against UCHC competition.
• The Soaring Eagles are unbeaten in their last nine games, going 7-0-2 in that span.
• EC is also unbeaten in its last seven games against Manhattanville with a 6-0-1 record in that stretch.
• The Purple and Gold added to their all-time lead in the series with the Valiants, 19-5-3.
• Elmira has won its last two games by a single goal.
• Hughson's tally was her team-leading 19th of the season and her team-high fourth game-winner.
• Harris tied season highs for points (2) and assists (2) on Friday night.
• Elmira is undefeated in the seven games in which Crocker has scored a goal.
• Crocker leads all EC rookies with nine goals so far this year.
• Adams' goal marked the sixth of her freshman season.
• Crawford is now tied for sixth place on the single-season wins leaderboard with 15 victories in 2017-18.
• Crawford's 456 saves rank fourth on the single-season charts, just 44 shy of becoming the fourth goalie in program history to amass 500 stops in a season.
• Crawford was credited with her first collegiate assist on the play on Hughson's game-winning tally. 

 
Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return to action tomorrow afternoon in the series finale against the Valiants. The UCHC tilt is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center.