RYE, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's ice hockey completed the regular season sweep of United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) foe Manhattanville on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over the Valiants.

With the win, the Soaring Eagles improved to 8-0-0 within the UCHC and 12-2-1 overall. Elmira dominated the pace of play all afternoon, as they dominated possession of the puck. The Purple and Gold outshot Manhattanville by a 40-16 margin as they skated to the conference victory. Elmira's vaunted power-play unit played a major goal once again, as the Purple and Gold cashed in the eventual game-winner on their first chance with the extra skater.

Katie Granato '19 kept up her strong play, as the nation's leading goal scorer was responsible for both of EC's tallies. Manhattanville's Erica Sandilands was tagged for hooking early in the first period, gifting Elmira a power-play chance. After some silky puck movement from Shannon Strawinski '19 and Eliza Beaudin '22, Granato wasted little, burying the puck into the back of the net at the 17:53 mark of the opening period.

The Soaring Eagles continued to apply pressure over the next two periods, but were unable to break through against Manhattanville's Rose Pijaca. Stephanie Martin '22 matched Pijaca's efforts in net, as the freshman netminder posted 16 saves against limited chances as EC dominated the puck. Granato deposited an insurance goal with 17 seconds to play in regulation after the Valiants pulled their goaltender to try and level the score.

In his own words…
Head Coach Tim Crowley on the team picking up the series sweep of Manhattanville…
"The power play has been great for us as of late," Crowley said. "Both units had chances today and it has been a big part of our offensive production. Granato has been producing in big moments for us all season. She's been great in both ends, which goes to show how important she is on both sides of the puck. This weekend was another step in our long term goals league wise. We still have some tough games ahead that we're looking forward to."

News and Notes

• Elmira went 1-for-3 on the power play while Manhattanville was 0-for-1
• Granato leads the nation with 19 goals and a 1.27 goals-per-game average.
• Maddie Evangelous '19 was credited with an assist on Granato's empty-net goal.
• Evangelous only needs nine points to reach 100 for her career.
• Strawinksi tallied her sixth assist of the season.
• Martin improved to 10-1-1 in net.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return to the Murray Athletic Center on Friday, January 18, to continue UCHC play with a two-game set against the Monarchs of King's College (Pa.). Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.