Aston, PA — The Elmira College men’s ice hockey team continued its road swing through ECAC West play on Friday night with the first of a two-game set at Neumann University. Although not the result the Soaring Eagles were ultimately hoping for, the Purple and Gold secured a much needed point in the conference standings with a 2-2 tie of Knights.
Things looked bleak for Elmira down the stretch. Trailing by a goal late in the third period and unable to pull the goaltender for an extra-attacker with the puck hemmed in their own zone, the Soaring Eagles finally corralled possession and launched a quick counter down the right wing. Jordan Robertson ’17 blazed down the boards into the Neumann zone, outpacing a Knight defender to the end line, before whipping the puck into a mad scrum in the crease. Jarryd ten Vaanholt ’16 was able to locate the bouncing puck in the throng of bodies, spearing it with his stick past bewildered Neumann goaltender Mitch Weibe to equalize the game at 2-2 with 1:38 remaining.
The Soaring Eagles rode the momentum into overtime, firing 10 shots during the five-minute extra session. Tommy Sumi ’16 and ten Vaanholt each had glorious opportunities right off the opening shift of the overtime, while Brian Depp ’16 was denied on a partial breakaway.
The late game excitement was in stark contrast to the opening 20 minutes, which witnessed Neumann completely control the game. The Knights scored twice on power play, as Elmira continued to cope with penalty issues.
Mike Davis opened the scoring with his Division III-leading 19th goal of the season 7:53 of the first, while Brandon Gagne added a goal on the Knights’ second man-advantage opportunity of the period at 11:08 to double the Neumann lead.
The home side would take the 2-0 edge to the intermission, a lead that easily could have been larger if not for the spectacular play of Elmira netminder Sandro Aeschlimann ’19. Elmira’s first-year goaltender stopped 19 pucks, several in acrobatic fashion, as the Knights peppered the net with 21 shots.
EC turned things around from that point forward. The Soaring Eagles showed great jump right out of the gates in the middle period, catching Neumann on its heels. Elmira launched 15 shots on net in the period, while holding the Knights to just four, halving the deficit in the process.
Still trailing 2-0 late in the frame, EC finally broke through on the scoreboard at 16:28 of the period. Controlling the puck in the Neumann zone, Sumi whipped the puck up to Michael Martin ’18 at the point. He ripped a slapper that was blocked on the way to the cage; however, the puck caromed right to the blade of Kenny Tencza ’19 in the slot. The EC rookie took advantage of the fortuitous bounce, whipping a wrister past Weibe to cut the score to 2-1.
Elmira continued to dominate the scoring chances throughout the third period, but Weibe would hold strong until ten Vaanholt’s late tally. The 2-2 tie sets up a huge showdown tomorrow afternoon with the winner set to hold down the fourth-place position in the conference standings.
In His Own Words…
Head Coach Aaron Saul ’98 on his team’s response after the slow start…
“It was a tough first period for us. We were on the bus for seven hours because of traffic, which certainly didn’t help us find our legs in that first period. I anticipated that we might have a slow start because of that. But I’m real proud of the way we responded in the final two periods and overtime. You could tell we got our legs back.”
Saul on ten Vaanholt’s late goal…
“That ten Vaanholt goal was set up by a great individual effort form Jordan Robertson. He made a great play to use his speed to beat the defenseman wide, giving him a lane to make a play to the net front.”
Saul on his team’s confidence…
“The team really battled hard tonight. We were up against it and we responded in a big way. The players are definitely confident going into tomorrow’s game.”
Saul on what tomorrow means…
“It is such a tight race right now. We need two league points in order to get the opportunity to host a game in conference tournament. Every game is important from here on out, but we have to take it one at a time. Tomorrow is the most important one of the year.”
Turning Point
The late-game heroics between the Soaring Eagles and Knights continued tonight. Unlike the season opener, when Neumann’s Mike Davis tallied to late goals to lift the Knights to an improbable comeback overtime win, this time it was Elmira’s ten Vaanholt who would provide the fireworks. After Robertson used his shifty skating to setup a centering feed into the crease, Elmira’s 2014-15 AHCA Second Team All-American speared home the loose puck to tie the game. The play helped EC secure a much-needed point in the conference standings.
Inside the Box Score
Elmira outshot Neumann 46-to-32 in the contest.
The advantage was even more decisive after the first period. EC outshot the Knights 39-to-11 over the final 45 minutes of regulation and overtime.
Sumi finished with a game-high nine shots, while Carter Shinkaruk ’16 finished with eight shots on goal.
Neumann slightly edged Elmira in the faceoff dot, winning 44-of-80 draws on the night.
Shinkaruk and Robertson both posted solid performances in the dot, going 18-for-28 and 8-for-14 on draws, respectively.
Elmira was whistled for five penalties, while Neumann was called for seven.
The Knights power play went 2-for-5, while the Soaring Eagles were 0-for-7 with the man advantage.
Kenny Tencza ’19 netted his fourth goal of the season in the second period.
ten Vaanholt’s third period equalizer was his seventh of the year.
Michael Martin ’18, Sumi, Robertson and Jeremy Marginsky ’18 each tallied one assist on the evening.
Sandro Aeschlimann ’19 finished with 30 saves.
Weibe finished with 44 stops for the Knights.
News and Notes
With the tie, Elmira moves to 27-16-3 against Neumann.
Both matchups between the two programs have gone to overtime this season.
Late goals continued to be a theme in this series, as tonight was the third straight contest and fourth in the last five meetings in which a team has scored in the final two minutes of regulation and/or in overtime.
Tencza has now found the back of the net in two straight contests.
ten Vaanholt has now recorded a point in five of his last six contests.
Shinkaruk was held off the score sheet for just the fourth time all season.
Elmira’s 46 shots on goal were a season high, edging its previous high of 45, which it set against Hobart on November 20th.
It was the eighth time in 10 appearances this season in which Aeschlimann stopped 30 or more shots.
Penalty issues continued to plague the Soaring Eagles, as they allowed multiple power-play goals for the second straight contest. Nine of Elmira’s 12 power-play goals allowed this season have come against ECAC West foes.
Up Next
Elmira concludes the regular season series with Neumann tomorrow afternoon, with a 4:00 p.m. opening faceoff at the IceWorks Skating Complex.
