PINE VALLEY, N.Y. — The Elmira College men’s ice hockey team bounced back in a big way on Saturday night, as the Soaring Eagles knocked-off visiting Nazareth College, 5-3, to hand the Golden Flyers their first loss of the 2018-19 season.
Matthew Cuce ’20 and Nick Ford ’20 paced the Purple and Gold with three points apiece. Cuce scored a pair of goals, including a power-play tally and the game-winner, and added an assist. Ford scored once and assisted on two others.
Anthony Parrucci ’20 and Connor Powell ’20 finished with two points apiece. Parrucci was credited with a pair of assists, while Powell scored two goals, one on the power play and the other on an empty net.
Other point getters for the Soaring Eagles included Spencer Carter ’20, Andrew Pucci ’20 and Ryan Blais ’21, all of whom were credited with one assist apiece.
Gennaro Anzevino ’21 got the start in net for the Soaring Eagles and turned away 22 shots en route to his third victory of the season. Of his 22 saves, 11 were registered in the second period.
Powell opened tonight’s scoring with a power-play goal at 16:21. Passes from Parrucci and Blais found Powell at the right faceoff dot, where he held the puck for a brief second, before rifling a shot past Nazareth’s Michael Tilford.
Just about two minutes later, Ford made it a 2-0 game with his fifth goal of the season at 18:27. The scoring play began with Pucci, who dumped a pass in the zone to Carter at the blue line. From there, Carter snapped a shot on goal that was deflected by Nazareth’s Tilford. However, the deflection went right to Ford, who volleyed the puck out of mid-air at waist level for the goal.
Ford’s goal sent the Soaring Eagles into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead, but EC saw its lead double in the second period on back-to-back goals from Cuce.
Cuce’s first goal was a result of great defense on the penalty kill, as EC fended off Nazareth’s power play and caught the Golden Flyer blueliners flat-footed. A poke check by Ford allowed Cuce to get out in front of both Nazareth’s defensemen, setting up a one-on-one with Tilford. Cuce did not blink, as the junior forward beat Tilford five-hole for the score at 4:55.
Then at 10:28, Cuce gave Elmira a four-goal lead by scoring the team’s second power-play goal of the night. A shot by Ford at the blue line was re-directed by Parrucci in the slot, but the attempt was stopped by Tilford. However, Tilford was unable to cover the puck as Cuce battled for it in the middle of a scrum, before pushing it into the back of the net for the goal, which forced Nazareth to switch goalies and sub Sean Kuhn into the contest.
With a 4-0 lead, Elmira seemed to be on cruise control, but a scrappy Nazareth squad clawed its way back with a trio of goals in the third period to cut EC’s lead to 4-3. Brad Pizzey, David Powlowski and Casey Kubara scored for the Golden Flyers, who saw tallies go up on the scoreboard at 5:52, 13:00 and 13:24.
In hopes of tying the game and forcing overtime, Nazareth pulled Kuhn at 17:59, leaving the net empty for the rest of the contest. Although Nazareth created several scoring chances, Elmira’s defense denied the Golden Flyers on each attempt, before Powell was able to put the nail in the coffin with his team-leading ninth goal of the year with just nine seconds left on the game clock. Powell’s empty-net goal was assisted by Cuce.
In His Own Words…
Head Coach Aaron Saul ’98 reflects on Elmira’s 5-3 win…
“It was a big turnaround from last night. The team’s effort was there right from the start. We knew that we were better than what we were last night and it was so important for us to start fast tonight. Cuce’s compete-level was so good night and came up with the game-winner. Overall, it was a huge to get league points and our focus was to beat the undefeated team in our league after dropping the last two games.”
News and Notes
Elmira handed Nazareth its first loss of the season.
With the win, Elmira moved into first place in the UCHC standings with 12 league points.
Cuce tied his season-high point total with three.
Cuce’s two goals are a season high.
Ford produced his fifth multi-point game of the year.
Powell logged his third multi-goal game of the season and his fifth multi-point performance.
Powell scored his team-leading ninth goal of the year.
Powell ranks ninth in the country in goals per game (1.00).
EC’s power play ranks 11th in the nation with a 27.7-percent success rate.
Up Next
Elmira returns to action this Tuesday, November 20, when the Soaring Eagles travel to take on No. 6/4-ranked SUNY Geneseo. The opening puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. in Geneseo, New York.
