GENEVA, N.Y. – Less than 24 hours after falling on their home ice, the Elmira Men's Ice Hockey team returned the favor in Geneva, defeating the Statesmen from Hobart College 5-4 in overtime.
The game was capped by Shawn Kennedy '24 who scored with under 15 seconds left in the overtime period, as off a defensive stand that saw Elmira escape defeat, Nicholas Domitrovic '24 passed the puck up to Kennedy who scored from just in front of the net from the left side to secure victory.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: No. 8 Elmira 5, No. 6 Hobart 4
LOCATION: Geneva, New York | The Cooler
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (13-4-1, 7-3-1 NEHC), Hobart (13-4-1, 8-2-1 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Opposite of a night ago, it was the Soaring Eagles who would open the scoring in the early going as Bailey Krawczyk '24 scored unassisted to give Elmira the early advantage. As play continued, the Statesmen would score with seven minutes remaining in the first as the score carried a 1-1 nearing the end of the period.
With just over six minutes remaining in the period, Amedeo Mastrangeli '24 scored on a power-play opportunity with the assist being credited to Janis Vizbelis '24. The goal would be the first of two power-play goals for the Soaring Eagles, who rank 5th in NCAA Division-III in that category.
Less than three minutes later, the Statesmen would tie the game as Artem Buzoverya snuck one past Janzen to tie the game at 2-2 heading into first intermission.
In the first period, Elmira goaltender Chris Janzen '21 would record ten saves, with the Soaring Eagles holding the advantage in shots, 17-12.
From there, Kennedy would score his first of the night after Elmira was awarded a power-play opportunity on assists from Chance Gorman '24 and Jordan Gonzalez '24 to put EC ahead 3-2 nearing the midway point of the second frame.
Just four minutes later, Nick Grinvalds '24 notched his second goal of the season to put the Soaring Eagles ahead by a pair on assists from Shane Haviland '24 and Marty Kapoian '22.
Heading into the third up a pair, the Soaring Eagles surrendered a goal in the fourth minute of play to bring the Statesmen within one before Hobart scored again with under six minutes to play, tying the game at 4-4.
As play progressed and eventually went to overtime, it looked as if there were a handful of tired skaters before Hobart nearly cashed in on a loose puck in front of the open net. After a great defensive stand, the Soaring Eagles skated it the other way as Domitrovic passed the puck to Kennedy on the left side who cashed in for the game-winner.
For Elmira, it was their fifth win of the season against a ranked opponent while Janzen finished the game with 36 saves in goal.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles hit the road next weekend for a pair of games against UMass Boston (Jan. 28) and Johnson & Wales (Jan. 29). Puck drop on Friday is set for 7:00 PM.
