ELMIRA, N.Y. — Senior forwards Sarah Hughson ’18 and Louisa Lippiatt Durnell ’18 of the nationally-ranked women’s ice hockey team have been crowned Elmira College Athletes of the Week in recognition of their efforts in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament win over Adrian College.
The duo teamed up for the game-winning goal on Saturday in a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs at the Murray Athletic Center in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship. Durnell was credited with an assist on the play, while Hughson potted her team-leading 27th goal of the year at the 13:28 mark of the third period.
Hughson, the 2017-18 United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Player of the Year, is tied for sixth in the country with 47 points (27g-20a) and is tied for seventh nationally with a 1.68 points-per-game average. Her 27 goals on the year are not only fifth on Elmira’s all-time single-season leaderboard, but the East Haddam, Connecticut, native also ranks fifth in Division III in goals per game (0.96) heading into this weekend’s NCAA semifinal round.
For Durnell, her secondary assist on the Saturday’s game-winner marked the 100th point of her four-year tenure as a Soaring Eagle. In 111 career games, the product of East Sussex, England, has amassed 28 goals and 72 assists, the latter of which ranks ninth all-time in program history. Durnell became just the 12th Soaring Eagle in the program’s illustrious 17-year history, tying Stefanie McLean ’07 and Brooke Wilgosh ’15 for 10th-place in EC’s career points record book.
Hughson, Durnell and the rest of the third-ranked Elmira women will continue their outstanding season on Friday, March 16, in the 2018 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship semis. The third-ranked Soaring Eagles will take on No. 2/1 Plattsburgh State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday at Norwich University’s Kreitzberg Arena in Northfield, Vermont.
