GENEVA, N.Y. – The fourth-ranked Elmira College women’s ice hockey team completed a weekend sweep of William Smith College as the Soaring Eagles cruised to a 5-0 victory against the Herons on Saturday in New England Hockey Conference action.
Erika Goleniak ’25 paced the Soaring Eagles with a goal and two assists in the contest, while eight different skaters registered a point for the Purple & Gold.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 5, William Smith 0
LOCATION: Geneva, New York | The Cooler
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (5-0-0, 4-0-0 NEHC), William Smith (3-2-1, 2-2-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
It would take the Soaring Eagles more than eight seconds to record the first goal of the contest on Saturday as Goleniak found the back of the net at the 8:20 mark of the first period to make it 1-0. Mary McCafferty ’22 and Holley Riva ’23 added assists on the eventual game-winning goal for Elmira.
The Soaring Eagles would get a late power-play opportunity in the opening frame and made the most of the extra skater as Claire Meeder ’23 beat the William Smith goalkeeper at the 17:53 mark to make it 2-0. Madi Morton ’24 and Morgan Mordini ’22 helped to set up Meeder’s goal and were credited with the assists.
Elmira would strike for three goals in the second period of action as Mordini increased the lead to 3-0 for the Purple & Gold with the third short-handed goal of her career. Just over two minutes after Mordini’s tally, Claire Elfring ’25 found the back of the net after taking a feed from Goleniak to make it 4-0.
Mandy McCarrick ’26 rounded out the scoring for Elmira as she recorded her first collegiate goal at the 13:43 mark to make it 5-0. McCafferty and Goleniak helped to set up McCarrick’s tally after finding her open in the slot.
Leonie-Louise Kuehberger ’25 would have twice the workload as she faced on Friday night between the pipes for Elmira. Kuehberger turned away 16 shots to notch back-to-back shutouts against the Herons and increased her career total in shutouts to 11 through 29 games played.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to the Murray Athletic Center on November 18-19 as Elmira hosts a pair of NEHC contests against UMass Boston and Johnson & Wales (RI).
