PINE VALLEY, N.Y. — In one of the strangest, and yet most exciting, finishes to a game you’ll see this year, the Elmira College men’s ice hockey team (5-4-1, 4-3-1 UCHC) came up short against Utica College (6-1-0, 6-1-0 UCHC), 7-5. Today’s contest was the conclusion of a March 6 matchup between the two teams, one that was halted at the end of the second period due to COVID-19 protocols in Utica, New York.
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On Mach 6, Utica jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind goals from Jamie Bucell, Conor Landrigan and John Moncovich. Elmira answered at 6:54 of the second period with a power-play goal from Chance Gorman ’24, assisted by Jordan Gonzalez ’24 and Shawn Kennedy ’24.
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Bucell added another goal for Utica at 15:47, before Kennedy tallied at 16:51 to cut the Pioneer lead to 4-2. Daniel Dimon ’24 and Ryan Reifler ’24 were credited with assists on the goal. However, on the power play, Landrigan scored with 53 seconds left in the second period to push the Pioneer’s lead back to three goals, 5-2. Â
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Elmira began Tuesday’s contest on the power play, as Brett Everson was called for hooking at 19:36 of the second period. It only took 45 seconds for Elmira to find the back of the cage on the power play, as Reifler redirected a shot from the point by Gorman. Jared Smith ’24 was also credited with an assist on the power-play goal.
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Elmira, New York, native Bailey Krawczyk ’24 swung momentum in EC’s favor with back-to-back goals in a 1:50 span. A cross-ice pass from Dimon at the blue line found Kennedy on the right dot, where he centered a pass to Krawczyk. The crafty forward collected the pass, spun on the right post and lifted it into the top shelf for the goal at 2:19.
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Then, at 4:09, Krawczyk delivered again to tie the score at 5-5. Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24 began the scoring play by blocking a shot in EC’s defensive zone. The rebound leaked out to Gonzalez, who sent an outlet pass to Krawczyk in the neutral zone. The rookie forward raced into the zone and fired a shot from the right dot that took a favorable bounce and went over the head of Utica’s Joseph Giacobbo for the goal.
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Unfortunately for Elmira, this was the closest it got, as Utica’s Bucell scored on the power play at 14:01 and then Everson potted an empty-netter at 19:56 to seal a 7-5 victory.
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News and Notes
- Only the third period was played this afternoon as a makeup from the March 6 game.
- The first two periods were played in Utica, New York.
- The third period was played in Pine Valley, New York.
- Utica held a 40-27 advantage in shots.
- EC went 2-for-3 on the power play.
- Utica was 2-for-5 on the power play.
- Krawczyk logged the first multi-goal game of his career.
- Kennedy paced EC with three points (1g-2a).
- Reifler (1g-1a), Gorman (1g-1a), Dimon (0g-2a) and Gonzalez (0g-2a) logged two points each.
- Chris Janzen ’21 finished with 33 saves in 59:21 of action.
Up Next
Elmira concludes the 2020-21 regular season this Friday, March 26, when the Soaring Eagles travel to face the Cougars of Chatham University. The season finale is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
