PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's ice hockey continued its impressive march on Friday evening, as the Soaring Eagles earned their eighth consecutive victory in a 7-2 thumping of United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) foe Chatham University.

Special teams loomed large in what turned out to be a penalty-laden affair between the conference rivals. Elmira (10-3-1, 6-2-0 UCHC) went an astounding 5-for-7 (71.4%) with the extra skater, while Chatham (2-14-0, 1-8-0 UCHC) was held scoreless on the power play and ended the contest 0-for-6 (0%). Five different skaters found the back of the net for the Purple and Gold, led by the dynamic duo of Connor Powell '20 and Matthew Cuce '20, who potted two goals apiece. Alex Gagnon '23, Harry Kramer '20, and Christian Lloyd '20 rounded out EC's goalscorers.

The Soaring Eagles looked to be off to another quick start on Friday evening, as Gagnon struck just a little over two minutes into the UCHC contest. Tommy Donnelly '23 started the play with an outlet pass off of the glass that found its way to Gagnon. The rookie collected the puck and raced into Chatham's defensive zone, toe-dragged a defender and snapped a wrist shot into the top shelf past the Cougars' Ricardo Gonzalez.

Despite the early goal, Chatham responded with two consecutive tallies to seize a 2-1 lead. Niko Moulakils knotted the game at 1-1 with a slap shot off of a faceoff win at Elmira's right dot as freshman netminder Logan Bateman '23 was screened on the play. The Cougars tacked on another goal with 13:52 on the clock, as Chad Bell managed to beat Bateman after a defensive miscue by the Soaring Eagles.

As the period wore on, the Purple and Gold continued to apply pressure until the Cougars took a penalty with a little over a minute left in the frame. With the extra skater, Powell knotted the game at 2-2 and brought the crowd to life. EC carried the puck into Chatham's zone and Powell collected the puck and sent it to Matthew Cousino '22 at the point. Cousino quickly sent a pass back to the former All-American and Powell did the rest with a low wrist shot to beat Gonzalez.

A trio of Cougars' penalties led to three goals for the Purple and Gold during the second period. Kramer was responsible for the first tally of the period. Lloyd circled around the umbrella setup after receiving the puck from Kale Kane '21. Kramer streaked into the slot and received a pass from Lloyd before he fired a wrister into the back of the net.

EC cashed in on another power-play chance a little over five minutes later. Cuce collected the puck behind Elmira's net and set out towards Chatham's zone. The Fort Myers, Florida, native raced paced the Cougars' defenders and delivered a howitzer of a slap shot from just past the blue line to give the Purple and Gold a 4-2 advantage.

The two sides skated evenly from there until Chatham's Jason Bauer was whistled for holding. As Elmira went to work in the Cougars' zone, the puck worked its way from Kramer over to Lloyd on the right side. Lloyd fired a shot that caromed off of Gonzalez's blocker and onto the stick of Cuce, who promptly fired the puck into the back of the net to give Elmira a 5-2 advantage.

A parade of penalties marred the end of the period, but EC managed to add to the Cougars' misfortune before the frame expired. Powell combined with Nick Ford '20 for a shorthanded marker that made it a 6-2 game.

Facing a long penalty kill, Elmira managed to stave off Chatham's power-play unit to open the final period and maintain its four-goal lead. With a little over seven minutes left to play, the Soaring Eagles struck one final time, once again on the power play. Lloyd was the triggerman for the marker, as the senior one-timed a feed from Gagnon to seal the victory.

In his own words…
Head coach Aaron Saul '98 on the team's performance…
"It was a tough start for us, but the team regrouped after the first period to get the win. We were calm in the locker room between periods and that was a key for us tonight. We needed these points tonight. Our goal is to gain as many conference points as we can before the second half of league play starts and we did just that on the ice."

News and Notes

• EC pushed its win streak to eight games, tying its longest streak since the 2010-11 season.
• Elmira outshot Chatham, 33-26.
• The Purple and Gold's five power-play goals were a season-high.
• Elmira has scored seven goals on three occasions this season.
• Bateman made 24 saves to earn his fourth collegiate win.
• Lloyd (1g-2a) and Kramer (1g-2a) paced Elmira with three points apiece.
• Cuce has registered a point in each of EC's last eight wins.
• Ford has posted at least one point in all 14 of Elmira's games.
• Powell's two goals marked a season-best.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return to the ice at the Murray Athletic Center tomorrow evening for a conference battle against No. 14 Stevenson University. The contest is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start.