PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – The Elmira College Men's Ice Hockey team won their first NEHC game on the season on home ice behind a 5-1 win over the visiting Wildcats from Johnson & Wales. Cole Tucker '25 lead the Soaring Eagles with a pair of goals while Ben Fleischman '21 made 25 saves in net for Aaron Saul's squad.

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 5, Johnson & Wales 1
LOCATION: Pine Valley, N.Y.
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (4-1-1, 1-1-1 NEHC), Johnson & Wales (2-4-0, 1-4-0 NEHC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles played their inaugural home NEHC contest on Friday evening and did not disappoint despite a scoreless first period.
 
A common thread this season, Elmire scores in bunches and went for four in the second period as Jared Smith '22 put EC on the board just 44 seconds into the second period on assists from Chance Gorman '24 and Ryan Reifler '24.
 
Just seven minutes later, Tucker scored his first of the night to push the lead to 2-0 on an assist from Shawn Kennedy '24, which would go down as the game-winner. Elmira went on to score the final two goals of the period between the 13:36 and 18:56 mark as Kennedy and Tucker (2^nd of the night) pushed EC ahead to a comfortable 4-0 lead.
 
The Purple & Gold saw the third period begin much like the second, as Elmira's leading point scorer Janis Vizbelis '24 scored just 90 seconds into the final frame on assists from Bailey Krawczyk '24 and Daniel Dimon '24.
 
The Wildcats cracked the scoreboard just moments later as Danny Allen scored to cut the EC lead to 5-1.
 
Fleischman finished the game with 25 saves while Wildcat keeper Jacob Perrin made 50.

UP NEXT:
Elmira will be back in action tomorrow afternoon against the #15 ranked Beacons from UMass Boston. Puck drop is set for 4:00 inside the Murray Athletic Center.