DANBURY, Conn. -- Over the weekend, former Elmira College women's hockey standout Maddie Evangelous '19 made her professional debut alongside Sarah Hughson '18 with the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).

Evangelous signed professional tryout contract and suited up for the Whale in their 2019-20 season opener on Saturday, October 4. She joins Hughson and Meghan Fonfara '18, who played for the Buffalo Beauts last winter, as one of the first three Soaring Eagles to skate in the NWHL.

As a senior, Evangelous was EC's third-leading goal scorer (16) and ranked fourth on the team in points (32). She became one of three members from Elmira's distinguished Class of 2019 to reach the 100-point club, the 14th student-athlete in program history to do so. The Hudson, Massachusetts, native garnered All-United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Second-Team honors after helping the Purple and Gold claim their second consecutive UCHC title and a seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Hughson, the College's 2017-18 Female Athlete of the Year and a First-Team All-America selection, enters her second season after signing with the Connecticut Whale in July of 2018. She appeared in 13 games with the team as a rookie. In the 2019-20 opener against Buffalo, the East Haddam, Connecticut, native logged her first professional point with an assist. In that game, Hughson and Evangelous also skated against EC's volunteer assistant coach, Erin Gehen, a Buffalo State graduate who made her first pro appearance with the Beauts.

More information on the Connecticut Whale and the NWHL can be found on the league's website at www.nwhl.zone/home.