GENEVA, N.Y. – The William Smith College ice hockey team dropped an ECAC West game to #3/2 Elmira at The Cooler this afternoon. Maddie Evangelous recorded a game-high two goals and three points to lead the Soaring Eagles to a 7-1 victory.
The Herons (8-13-2, 3-10-2) had the game’s first major scoring opportunity, 2:30 into the first period. First-years Stephanie Hampton and Maura Mulligan broke into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush. Mulligan passed the puck to Hampton, who fired a shot on goal. Kelcey Crawford, the Elmira goalie, got a glove on the puck to keep the game tied 0-0.
Elmira (19-3-1, 14-2-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead at 13:31 of the first period when Evangelous scored her first goal of the game. Katie Granato and Kyra McDonald were credited with assists on the goal. Seventy-three seconds later, Elmira struck again to double its lead. Johanna Eldensten wristed a shot throughLaurel Brown’s pads.
The Soaring Eagles extended their lead to 3-0 when Maddy Jerolaman pocketed a goal at 4:14 of the second period. Evangelous and Louisa Lippiat Durnell were credited with the assists on the goal.
William Smith cut the deficit to two when sophomore Catherine Linehan scored her fourth goal of the season. Linehan’s power-play goal came off a redirection at 6:49 of the second period. First-year Laura Rollins fired a shot from the point that Linehan batted out of the air and past Crawford. First-year Tess Madarasz was also credited with an assist on the goal.
Sixty seconds later, Kristin Chivers scored to put Elmira up 4-1. Evangelous would tack on a goal at 17:58 of the period to give the Soaring Eagles a four goal lead headed into the second intermission.
The Herons held a 13-10 advantage in the shot column in the second period but they could not put another shot past Crawford. Late in the period, William Smith had Elmira on its heels with a 5-on-3 power play, but the Herons could not convert on their two-man advantage.
The Soaring Eagles added two third period goals to secure the final margin.
William Smith was 1 of 6 on the power play, while Elmira went 2-for-4 with the extra attacker.
Brown started in goal for the Herons and made 27 saves in 60 minutes of action. Crawford stopped 19 of the 20 William Smith shots she faced to collect the win in the Elmira goal.
William Smith returns to the ice next weekend, Feb. 19-20, when it travels to Cortland, N.Y. for a pair of ECAC West games against the Red Dragons.
