ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Elmira College women’s ice hockey team will open the 2017-18 season as the favorites to win the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC), as announced by the league office this morning. Elmira was voted by the conference’s coaches as the unanimous favorite to win the league in its inaugural season.
The Soaring Eagles received the maximum of 72 points and collected all eight first-place votes in the preseason poll, 11 points ahead of second-place Utica College and 15 points better than third-place Manhattanville College. Elmira concluded the 2016-17 campaign with an 18-6-4 overall record and a 14-2-2 mark within league play. EC’s season culminated with a conference championship game appearance and a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament Quarterfinals.
Elmira returns its top eight point-getters, five all-conference recipients and the team’s leading goaltender, Kelcey Crawford’18, from a season ago. Katie Granato ’19 is back for her junior year, after leading the Soaring Eagles in scoring with 14 goals. She was one of three EC skaters with 10-or-more goals, including Maddie Evangelous ’19, who led the team in points (10g-18a-28p), and Maddy Jerolman ’19 (12g-15a-27p), who was second on the squad in goals. Senior playmaker Louisa Lippiatt Durnell ’18 is also back for the Purple and Gold after dishing out a team-high 19 assists in 2016-17. Additionally, the Purple and Gold boasted the nation’s seventh highest-scoring offense (3.64 goals per game) and the country’s seventh-best scoring defense (1.43 goals per game).
The Soaring Eagles open the 2017-18 campaign on Saturday, November 4, with a road trip to face the Lakers of Oswego State. The non-conference season-opening contest is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Oswego’s Marano Campus Center Arena. Elmira’s home-opener is set for Friday, November 17, when the Purple and Gold host the Mustangs of Stevenson University, who were voted to finish fourth in this morning’s preseason poll, in a 7:00 p.m. conference bout at the Murray Athletic Center in Pine Valley, New York.
2017 UNITED COLLEGIATE HOCKEY CONFERENCE WOMEN’S PRESEASON POLL
(Results tabulated from eight received ballots)
RANK TEAM Points (1st Place Votes)
1. ELMIRA 72 (8)
2. UTICA 61
3. MANHATTANVILLE 57
4. STEVENSON 45
5. WILLIAM SMITH 40
6. NEUMANN 32
7. CHATHAM 29
8. KING’S 13
9. LEBANON VALLEY 11
About the UCHC
The United Collegiate Hockey Conference is a collaborative effort between eleven institutions to provide a competitive environment and structure for NCAA Division III men’s and women’s ice hockey in the Eastern United States. Our membership encompasses a wide geographic area spanning from Central and Western New York, to the greater Pittsburgh and Baltimore areas. In its inaugural season, the UCHC will incorporate the efforts of ice hockey student-athletes from Chatham University, Elmira College, King’s College, Lebanon Valley College, Manhattanville College, Nazareth College, Neumann University, Stevenson University, Utica College, and William Smith College into their strong, but evolving membership that strives for on-ice excellence while also preparing student athletes for their off-ice futures. In addition, Wilkes University is set to begin men’s and women’s play in the fall of 2018. For more on the UCHC, visit the league’s homepage at TheUCHC.com, or follow the league on Twitter at @UCHCHockey.
