PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – A three-goal deficit would be too tall of a task to come back from for the Elmira College men’s ice hockey program as the Soaring Eagles dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 8 Geneseo on Tuesday inside the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena.
Ryan Reifler ’24 and Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 provided the scoring for the Purple & Gold in the contest as the Soaring Eagles finished the night with a 48-37 edge in shots on goal.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 2, No. 8 Geneseo 3
LOCATION: Pine Valley, New York | Murray Athletic Center
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (4-4-0, 3-1-0 NEHC), Geneseo (5-3-1, 2-2-1 SUNYAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Geneseo would bring the offensive pressure early and often to open the contest and would net the first goal at the 6:12 mark. The Knights would take advantage of an early power-play opportunity and take a 1-0 lead as a loose puck at the top of the crease would find its way past Elmira netminder Kyle Curtin ’26.
The Knights would add to their lead just over seven minutes later in the first period following an odd-man rush that left a trailing Geneseo skater open to beat Curtin blocker-side to make it 2-0. The Soaring Eagles would get some good opportunities late in the opening period but would be unable to find the back of the net as Geneseo would take a 2-0 lead into the break.
A goal from the Knights just over four minutes into the second period would give them a 3-0 edge and draw a timeout to be taken by the Soaring Eagles. Elmira responded out of the timeout and quickly as Reifler found a loose puck after an initial shot was taken from the point to get Elmira onto the scoreboard to make it 3-1. Carter Wisely ’25 and Jared Smith ’24 would be credited with the assists on Reifler’s tally.
The Purple & Gold would trim the deficit to a single goal late in the second period as Domitrovic beat the Geneseo netminder after taking a feed from Kerfalla Toure ’26 to make it 3-2 at the 17:04 mark. Elmira would be unable to knot the score over the final two minutes despite a flurry of offense that would see EC outshoot the Knights 25-8 in the frame.
Elmira had an opportunity to knot the score midway through the third period after getting a power-play opportunity at the 10:26 mark. The Soaring Eagles would record just two shots on goal with the extra skater as the Knights stood tall to preserve their 3-2 lead. Geneseo would fight off a late rush by Elmira in the final seconds of the contest to preserve the 3-2 victory.
Curtin suffered his first loss of the season between the pipes for the Soaring Eagles as he finished the night with 34 saves. Matt Petizian was solid in net for the Knights as he stopped 46 shots in the contest.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to the ice on Saturday for a matchup against SUNY Brockport beginning at 7:00 P.M. at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena. The game will be the Soaring Eagles’ annual Thanksgiving Food Drive Night as fans are encouraged to bring canned and non-perishable food items to donate in turn for half-off admission into the contest.
