ELMIRA, N.Y. -- With a 2-0 victory over Adrian College on Saturday, March 10, at the Murray Athletic Center, the Elmira College women's ice hockey team advanced to the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship to face long-time rival Plattsburgh State on Friday, March 16. The postseason contest is slated to start at 3:30 p.m. at the Kreitzberg Arena on the campus of Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.
Friday's bout will mark the Soaring Eagles' 10th appearance in an NCAA Tournament semifinal in the team's 17 years of existence. In those nine previous bouts, EC went on to win play in six championship games. The Purple and Gold most recent semifinal game came on March 18, 2016, when the University of Wisconsin at River Falls topped Elmira by a heart-breaking 4-3 final score in overtime.
Elmira's win over Adrian in the first round sets up an exciting matchup with its bitter rival, Plattsburgh State. The Soaring Eagles and Cardinals fly into Friday's tilt with a wealth of experience against each other, as the two teams battled twice annually as former members of the now-defunct ECAC West from 2001-2017.
EC and Plattsburgh are more than rivals, as they also stand as two of the most accomplished programs in all of Division III. In addition to regularly meeting in regular-season conference games, the Soaring Eagles and Cardinals met in 12 ECAC West title games and four NCAA Tournament bouts. In total the two teams have met on 54 occasions, which is 11 more games than Elmira's next frequent opponent, Utica College (43).
To go along with their head-to-head animosity, these two programs have dominated NCAA Division III women's ice hockey in its 17 seasons. Elmira and Plattsburgh have combined to win nine national championships, including the last five titles, and at least one of the two have appeared in 16 of the 17 NCAA Tournaments since the Division III Championship was formed.
Both teams enter Saturday's contest riding lengthy win streaks, as Elmira has not been beaten in its last 15 contests (13-0-2) and Plattsburgh in unbeaten it is last 20 bouts (18-0-2). Ironically, both team's most recent loss came against each other. The Cardinals defeated the Soaring Eagles, 3-0, in the title game of the East-West Hockey Classic on January 8, while EC skated to a 4-2 victory over Plattsburgh on November 26 to win the UNO Classic on the Cardinals' home ice.
Scouting Plattsburgh
The four-time defending national champion Cardinals of Plattsburgh State have found a comfortable new home in the Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL), as they recorded a 24-2-2 overall record, their 16th consecutive season with 20-plus victories. In league play, the Cardinals owned a 15-0-1 record on their way to the inaugural NEWHL Tournament title. For winning the conference title, Plattsburgh was awarded an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, where it hosted Middlebury College for a first-round tilt on Saturday, March 10. In that game, the Cardinals scored two unanswered goals in the third period, one of which was an empty-netter, to seal a 3-1 triumph on its home ice.
With its 3-1 victory over Middlebury, Plattsburgh has limited all of its opponents during its 20-game unbeaten streak to fewer than three goals. This outstanding defensive effort has placed the Cardinals first in the country in scoring defense (0.93 gpg). The goalie tandem of Kassi Abbott and Brooke Wolejko lead this defensive core, as both have been highly effective this season. Wolejko, a senior from South Windsor, Connecticut, paces the country in both goals-against average (0.83) and save percentage (.966). Abbott, on the other hand, leads the team in starts (16), wins (14) and saves (333), in addition to being second nationally in goals-against average (0.93) and tied for third in save percentage (.957).
Plattsburgh's offense, which ranks sixth in the country with a 4.29 goals-per-game average, complements its stingy defense nicely. Senior forward and two-time First-Team All-American Melissa Sheeran has been in command of this offense this season, as she leads the team with 47 points and 29 assists. Junior Courtney Moriarty has been the recipient of many of those assists, as she leads the team with 30 goals this season. The Estero, Florida, native is tied for third in the country in goals per game (1.07), in addition to leading the nation in game-winning (14) and power-play goals (12).
All-Conference Honorees
Elmira- UCHC
Player of the Year: Sarah Hughson
Defensive Player of the Year: Rachel Grampp
Goaltender of the Year: Kelcey Crawford
First Team: Sarah Hughson,
Katie Granato,
Rachel Grampp &
Kelcey Crawford
Second Team: Kristin Chivers
Honorable Mention: Shannon Strawinski,
Louisa Lippiatt Durnell &
Meg Lahey
All-Rookie: Devyn Gilman &
Emma Crocker
Plattsburgh - NEWHL
Player of the Year: Melissa Sheeran
First Team: Melissa Sheeran, Courtney Moriarty & Hannah Kiraly
Second Team: Kassi Abbott & Kayla Meneghin
NCAA Tournament History
Elmira Skaters in NCAA Tournament
Lippiatt Durnell (0g-7a-7p)
Evangelous (4g-2a-6p)
Jerolman (3g-2a-5p)
Granato (2g-2a-4p)
Grampp (1g-3a-4p)
Hughson (2g-0a-2p)
Fonfara (1g-1a-2p)
Chivers (0g-2a-2p)
Strawinski (0g-2a-2p)
Melvin (0g-1a-1p)
Elmira Goaltenders in NCAA Tournament
Crawford: 1-1-0 Record
Plattsburgh Skaters in NCAA Tournament
Sheeran (8g-8a-16p)
Meneghin (6g-5a-11p)
Millen (3g-4a-7p)
Songin (2g-3a-5p)
Moriarty (1g-2a-3p)
Viola (0g-3a-3p)
Hudson (1g-1a-2p)
McArdle (1g-1a-2p)
Plattsburgh Goaltenders in NCAA Tournament
Abbott: 1-0-0
Looking Ahead
The two winners of Friday's semifinal contests will advance to the NCAA Division III Championship Game, which will be held on Saturday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m. inside the Kreitzberg Arena. The remaining two teams will meet in the third-place game that precedes the title bout at 3:30 p.m.
For additional information on Saturday's NCAA Division III Tournament Semifinal Game, click
here.
