HERSHEY, Pa. — The No. 3/3 Elmira College women’s ice hockey team continued to put its dominance within the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) on display Sunday afternoon, as the Soaring Eagles blanked Lebanon Valley College, 6-0, to complete the sweep of the weekend series.
Elmira, the only undefeated team in the conference, improves to 10-0-0 in UCHC play. In those 10 games, the Soaring Eagles have outscored league opponents 75-6, and have surrendered loss shots on goal than the EC offense produced in this weekend’s series in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Including Friday’s blowout win over the Dutchmen, the Soaring Eagles outscored the hosts by a combined 15-0 on a whopping 152 shots on goal, the most taken by the EC women in a two-game span in program history. Thirteen different players logged a point on Sunday, and Elmira’s six goals were each potted by a different skater. Ari Smith ’18 and Louisa Lippiatt Durnell ’18 paced the team with one goal and one assist for two points apiece. Fellow senior Sarah Hughson ’18 also scored once, as did juniors Maddy Jerolman ’19 and Maddie Evangelous ’19, and first-year forward Jess Adams ’21.
Jerolman and Evangelous opened the scoring with a pair of first-period tallies. Evangelous’ goal came with just 54 seconds remaining in the period, as she deked through traffic in the slot and buried her own rebound past Lebanon Valley goaltender Jill Moffat. In the first period alone, Elmira outshot the Dutchmen 28-to-0.
EC’s four remaining goals all came in the middle period, beginning with a shorthanded tally from Smith. Although the Soaring Eagles entered the weekend without a shorthanded goal to their name, Smith’s tally marked the third such score of the weekend, as Jerolman scored twice while Elmira was down a skater on Saturday.
The senior duo of Hughson and Durnell added back-to-back goals a mere 13 seconds apart at the 8:05 and 8:18 marks of the second stanza. Adams rounded out Elmira’s scoring efforts late in the second period, which extended her goal-scoring streak to four consecutive games.
First-year goalie Elizabeth Hanson ’21 didn’t face much pressure early on but needed to make eight of her nine saves in the third period with the Dutchmen desperate to avoid the shutout. Hanson, like senior standout Kelcey Crawford ’18 did back in 2014-15, has begun her career in the Purple and Gold with wins in each of her first three collegiate starts.
In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Tim Crowley on the sweep of the two-game series against Lebanon Valley…
“We are excited about the weekend outcome and how well we played system-wise.”
Coach Crowley on Elmira’s penalty-kill unit scoring its third shorthanded goal of the weekend…
“Our penalty kill has been better this past week. It’s something we’ve stressed, and it will be an important part of our game moving forward.”
Coach Crowley on rookie Jess Adams extending her goal streak to four consecutive games…
“She’s been playing really well as of late, and it has been showing on the score sheet.”
News and Notes
Elmira improved to 16-2-1 overall and 10-0-0 in UCHC play.
The Soaring Eagles have won three consecutive games in shutout fashion.
EC entered the series against Lebanon Valley without a shorthanded goal, but Smith’s tally marked the team’s third of the weekend.
Smith (1g-1a) tied her season-high with two points.
Durnell (1g-1a) recorded multi-point outings in both bouts against the Dutchmen.
Jerolman is riding a season-long three-game goal streak after netting one goal on Sunday.
Meghan Fonfara ’18 extended her point streak to four straight games.
Adams has scored a goal in four games in a row.
Hanson made the third start of her freshman season and improved to 3-0-0 with her second shutout.
Up Next
Third-ranked Elmira will open a home-and-home series against the Herons of William Smith College on Saturday, February 3, at 3:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center. The game is one of several home contests being held at the MAC on Saturday, as part of the 36th Annual Elmira College Athletics Alumni Weekend.
