Saul Earns 200th Win of Career as Elmira Defeats NEC to Conclude the Regular Season

HENNIKER, N.H. – The Elmira College Men’s Ice Hockey team capped off the regular season with a win over New England College on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Pilgrims 4-2. With the win, head coach Aaron Saul ’98 earned his 200^th win at the helm on Elmira, becoming just the second coach all-time (Glenn Thomaris) to reach that mark.
 
With the win, the Soaring Eagles have locked up the #2 seed in the NEHC Postseason tournament, and will await the lower seed of the 7/10 and 9/8 matchups.

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: No. 7 Elmira 4, New England College 2
LOCATION: Henniker, New Hampshire | Lee Clement Arena
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (17-5-2, 11-4-2 NEHC), New England (12-10-1, 7-10-1 NEHC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles got on the board at the 11:54 mark in the first period after Chance Gorman ’24 notched his team-leading 27^th point of the season on his 11^th goal. He was assisted by Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24 and Jared Smith ’24, each who notched two assists on the evening.
 
Just three minutes later, Janis Vizbelis ’24 scored on a power-play opportunity after CJ Valerian was sent to the box on an interference call. In all, there were 12 penalties between the team, with each team being tabbed for six. The goal from Vizbelis came on assists from Mastrangeli and Daniel Dimon ’24.
 
Leading 2-0, the Pilgrims hit the board with two minutes remaining as Connor Inger scored to bring the NEC deficit to just one.
 
Headed into the second, there was little offense amongst the teams until the 15:20 mark when Adam Eby ’21 scored what would go down as the game-winning goal on an assist from Jared Smith.
 
Up by a pair heading into the third, Ryan Reifler ’24 would score with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, increasing the EC led to three. The Pilgrims would sneak a goal past Chris Janzen ’21, who made 22 saves in net on the evening to conclude the game at 4-2.

UP NEXT:
Elmira will take on the lowest remaining seed of the 7/10 and 9/8 matchups. New England College (#7) will take on Southern Maine (#8), as well as Castleton (#9) taking on Johnson & Wales (#10). Those games will be played on Tuesday, with Elmira’s opponent being announced following those matchups.