PINE VALLEY, N.Y. — The No. 4/5 nationally-ranked Elmira College women’s ice hockey team left it all out on the Murray Athletic Center ice this afternoon, as the second-seeded Soaring Eagles throttled Buffalo State, 6-0, in the semifinal round of the ECAC West Conference Tournament. With the win, Elmira advances to next weekend’s championship game against top-ranked Plattsburgh State on Saturday, March 4, at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena in Plattsburgh, New York. Saturday’s championship game is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.
Elmira came out of the gates strong and outshot the Bengals, 13-to-5, in the opening 20 minutes. Despite the lopsided shot count, Buffalo State was able to keep EC’s offense relatively quiet for most of the period thanks to the 12-save effort of goaltender Justine Silva.
However, Elmira’s final shot of the first period would get the better of Silva, as second-year blueliner Meg Lahey ’19 went bar-down for the game-opening score with 1:17 left on the clock. Meghan Fonfara ’18 began the scoring play with a pass into the Bengal defensive zone, which deflected off of the blade of a Buffalo State defender to Lahey. The Latham, New York, native skated down to the end boards, before wrapping around and sniping the top corner from the left faceoff dot for the only score of the first period.
Maddy Jerolman ’19 added to the Soaring Eagle lead 3:55 into the second stanza, as the second-year forward netted her 11th goal of the season. Maddie Evangelous ’19 started the play by winning a puck battle along the right-side boards, where she poked it out to Katie Granato ’19. From there, Granato weaved her way through a pair of Buffalo State defenders, before sliding a cross-ice pass to Jerolman on the left post, setting her up to go up and over the shoulder of Silva for the score.
The Bengals would have several opportunities to cut the EC lead in the second period, as Buffalo State went on the power play twice. Although the extra skater provided more puck possession for the Bengals, they were only able to put two shots on goal, both of which Kelcey Crawford ’18 turned away to keep Elmira’s 2-0 lead intact entering the final intermission.
Elmira blew today’s semifinal wide open in the third period, as the Purple and Gold offense exploded for four goals in the final frame, putting an exclamation point on EC’s 6-0 victory.
Louisa Lippiatt Durnell ’18 made it a 3-0 game 6:46 into the third period on a power-play goal. Passes from the point by Evangelous and Kristin Chivers ’19 created space for Lippiatt Durnell on the right side of the ice, allowing her to skate in before whipping a wrist shot over Silva’s left shoulder for the goal.
EC’s special teams continued to have a big day, especially the penalty killers, as Evangelous struck for a shorthanded goal at the 7:58 mark to put the Purple and Gold on top, 4-0. Granato set up the scoring play with a steal in Buffalo State’s defensive zone, which left her and Evangelous all alone with the goaltender. With the puck at the right-side end line, Granato skated towards the cage and dished it over to Evangelous, who one-timed it through the five-hole from just outside the crease.
Just about seven minutes passed until Lippiatt Durnell increased the Elmira lead to 5-0 with her second goal of the period. A puck battle behind the Buffalo State cage was won with some nifty stick work by Sarah Hughson ’18 and Shannon Strawinski ’19, who teamed up to work the puck out from the scrum and send it to Lippiatt Durnell at the left pipe. The congestion behind the cage left Silva searching for the puck, setting up an easy goal for Lippiatt Durnell at point-blank range.
Today’s scoring concluded at the 17:29 mark on a tally from Swedish national, Anna Tude ’17. A turnover in the EC defensive zone put the puck on the blade of Fonfara, who snapped a pass to Tude, setting up a two-on-two rush with Ari Smith ’18. Tude’s quick hands in the zone were on full display, as the senior dragged and deked the last Bengal defender. Tude dished the puck to Smith just outside of the crease, where she one-timed it back to Tude, who punched in her second goal of the season to cap a 6-0 shutout victory for the Soaring Eagles.
In His Own Words…
Head Coach Tim Crowley on the team’s emotions going into Saturday’s matchup against Plattsburgh State for the ECAC West Championship…
“Obviously we are excited. We also understand that we are going to have a tough challenge next weekend against a really good Plattsburgh team, but I think we are up to the task. We are going to prepare this week and we’ll be ready to go next Saturday for the ECAC West Championship Game.”
Coach Crowley on the importance of playing a complete game today against Buffalo State heading into Saturday’s tilt…
“I think that it’s huge. Everything was clicking today. Kelcey was great throughout the game, making big saves when we needed them. It is a confidence builder for us, as a performance like this shows everyone what we are capable of when everybody is rolling.”
Coach Crowley on EC’s performance on the penalty kill against the Bengals…
“It’s been a little bit of a weak spot for us as of late. We really concentrated on being hard on pucks, pressuring in certain areas and when we had an opportunity to get into shooting lanes, we did. I thought that our penalty kill was the best that it has been in about a month or so.”
Coach Crowley on the importance of trying to win the last ECAC West Championship…
“Anytime that you play for a championship it’s special. I know that the conference is changing, but we still want to win a championship for our senior group.”
Turning Point
Although the Soaring Eagle offense headlined today’s win, the EC penalty killers deserve a lot of the credit as well. Elmira allowed power-play goals in four consecutive games heading into this evening’s semifinal. EC went on the penalty kill four times today, but proved to be up for the challenge, as the Purple and Gold held the Bengals’ power play scoreless on each extra-skater opportunity. Not only did Elmira’s penalty killers hold Buffalo State without a goal, they also found the back of the cage themselves for a shorthanded goal in the third period.
Inside the Box Score
Elmira finished the contest with a 43-19 advantage in shots.
EC was whistled for four penalties for eight minutes on the game.
Buffalo State was only served four minutes on two penalty calls.
The Purple and Gold finished 1-for-2 on the power play.
Buffalo State was 0-for-4 with the extra skater.
Elmira’s goal scorers were Lahey, Jerolman, Lippiatt Durnell, Evangelous, and Tude.
Evangelous led the way with a game-high three points on one goal and two assists.
Lippiatt Durnell scored a game-high two goals, both of which came in third period.
Granato and Fonfara each recorded two helpers.
Crawford had a 19-save effort en route to a complete game shutout.
Silva finished with 37 saves for the Bengals.
News and Notes
Elmira advances to next Saturday’s ECAC West title game against top-ranked Plattsburgh State.
Plattsburgh advanced to the title game with a 6-1 win over Utica.
Elmira’s record in ECAC West playoff games at home improved to 11-3-0.
The Soaring Eagles’ all-time ECAC West playoff record stands at 20-8-0.
EC will be searching for its eighth tournament title in program history next weekend.
Elmira qualified for its fourth tournament title game appearance in the last five seasons.
The Purple and Gold picked up their eighth shutout victory of the season.
Evangelous produced her ninth multi-point game of the year.
Lippiatt Durnell registered her second multi-goal game of the season.
Fonfara recorded the second multi-assist game of her junior season.
Lahey was credited with today’s game-winning goal.
Crawford’s 19 saves helped her log the sixth shutout of her junior season.
Up Next
Elmira will look to capture its eighth ECAC West Tournament title next Saturday, March 4, when the Purple and Gold travel to face the top-ranked Cardinals of Plattsburgh State. Next weekend’s title game is scheduled to take place at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena, located in Plattsburgh, New York, with a start time of 3:00 p.m.
