Pine Valley, NY — Tommy Sumi ’16 turned in a career-high four-point performance to lift the Elmira College men’s ice hockey team (9-6-3, 3-3-2 ECAC West) past Manhattanville College, 5-2 (7-7-4, 2-5-1). Sumi’s four points came on two goals and a pair of assists, one of his assists coming on the game-winning goal.
Sumi was one of seven Elmira players with points tonight and one of three multi-point performers. Jarryd ten Vaanholt ’16 finished with three points, all three coming on assists, while Michael Collins ’16 chipped in with two points on a goal and an assist.
Tonight’s game was packed with offense as the two teams combined for 87 shots on goal, 49 for Manhttanville and 38 for Elmira. However, the difference maker tonight was the play in net by Ryan deMelo ’15 as the fourth-year netminder turned away a season-high 47 shots en route to his fourth win of the season. Additionally, deMelo’s 47 saves marks the third time this season he has made 40 or more saves in a single game.
It only took 51 seconds for the first goal of the night to be scored, as Sumi put Elmira ahead 1-0 as his wrist shot from the slot beat Manhattanville goalie, Kurt Williams, stick-side. ten Vaanholt was credited with an assist on the goal as his pass to Sumi in the slot setup the game’s first goal.
The Soaring Eagles would kill off a Manhattanville power-play opportunity and deMelo would turn away 18 Valiant shots in the period as Elmira took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Nearly eight minutes into the second period, Collins put Elmira ahead 2-0 with his seventh goal of the season. The scoring play only took nine seconds as the Soaring Eagles won a defensive zone faceoff before utilizing the speed of ten Vaanholt and Collins to create the scoring opportunity. ten Vaanholt and Collins created a two-on-two rush, allowing ten Vaanholt to dump the puck off to Collins who would bury a beautiful shot into the upper right corner of the net, beating Manhattanville’s Williams over the left shoulder. Michael Martin ’18 and ten Vaanholt picked up assists on Collins’ goal as Elmira took their 2-0 lead into the third period.
Manhattanville cut Elmira’s lead to one, just 2:57 into the third period, but Elmira’s Alexander Taulien ’17 would give the Soaring Eagles back their two-goal cushion as he scored his team-leading sixth power-play goal of the season. Greg Whittle ’16 setup the scoring play by knocking the puck away from a Manhattanville skater in the Valiants’ defensive zone. The puck would find Sumi, who would send it over to Taulien, who finished the play by beating Williams over the right shoulder for the score.
Elmira increased their lead to 4-1 at the 15:41 mark of the third as Sumi knocked-in his second goal of the night. The scoring play was setup by ten Vaanholt who slipped a pass from behind the Elmira net to Collins at the blue line. Collins would beat one defender, setting up a two-on-one odd-man rush for the Soaring Eagles. Collins carried the puck into Manhattanville’s defensive zone before sending a pass to Sumi in the slot where he would punch-in Elmira’s fourth goal of the night.
With the game coming to a close, Manhattanville looked to stage a comeback as Nolan Marshall, last night’s game-winning goal scorer, knocked-in another late goal, cutting EC’s lead to two with 1:09 to play in regulation.
Trailing by two goals, Manhattanville opted to pull their goalie in hopes of trimming Elmira’s lead even lower. The plan backfired as the Soaring Eagles forced a turnover in their own defensive zone, with the loose puck finding its way toCarter Shinkaruk ’16 at the left faceoff circle. Shinkaruk did not think twice about what to do as he sent a high-flying wrist shot towards the other end of the ice, only to see that high-riser come back down and trickle into the back of the net for the score, putting Elmira ahead for good, 5-2.
The Soaring Eagles will look to build on today’s win next weekend as the Elmira men prepare to face Nazareth College for another crucial ECAC West Conference series. The first of two games is scheduled for Friday, January 30th at 7:00 p.m. in Rochester, NY.
