ATTLEBORO, MASS. – The Elmira College Men’s Ice Hockey team finished its first NEHC Roadtrip of the season with a pair of wins, picking up the latter on Saturday afternoon against the Wildcats from Johnson & Wales, 4-3.
The Soaring Eagles were able to score the equalizer in the first period off the stick of Jared Smith ’24 before Chance Gorman ’24 put the visitors ahead for good with Elmira’s third goal in the second period.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 4, Johnson & Wales 3
LOCATION: Attleboro, Mass. | New England Sports Village
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (4-3-0, 3-1-0 NEHC), JWU (0-8-0, 0-6-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first ten minutes of the game would be quiet from an offensive execution standpoint before the Wildcats would open the scoring at the 10:02 mark on a goal from Brandon Shanley. Just three and a half minutes later, the Soaring Eagles would score the equalizer as Smith was able to cut past JWU goaltender Jake Perrin for the score. The goal was assisted by Shawn Kennedy ’24 and Jordan Gonzalez ’24.
Carrying a 1-1 tie into the first intermission, it would take the Soaring Eagles under five minutes to take the lead, as Niland scored on assists from Christian Abrams ’25 and Graham Denomme ’23 to put EC ahead 2-1.
From there, the Soaring Eagles would extend its lead to 3-1 with six minutes remaining in the second frame as Gorman was able to score on assists from Ryan Reifler ’24 and Smith. The Purple & Gold would then receive its game-winner just three minutes later as Janis Vizbelis ’24 scored on assists from Bailey Krawczyk ’24 and Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24.
In the third, the Wildcats would make things close with a pair of goals, but the Soaring Eagle defense was able to hold strong in its quest to a 4-3 victory.
Kyle Curtin ’26 finished the game with 23 saves in net for his third consecutive win to begin his collegiate career.
UP NEXT:
Elmira returns to the ice on Tuesday, November 22 as they host the nationally-ranked Knights from SUNY Geneseo at 7:00 PM. The night serves as Youth Hockey Night, with those wearing their youth hockey jerseys receiving free admission to the game.
