PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – It took the Elmira College Men’s Ice Hockey team just 16 seconds to begin the scoring on Saturday, with Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 scoring early for Elmira in its 6-3 win over SUNY Brockport on Saturday night.
From there, the Soaring Eagles would answer with three additional first period goals, including the game-winner from Kerfalla Toure ’26 in just the 13th minute of play.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 6, SUNY Brockport 3
LOCATION: Pine Valley, New York | Murray Athletic Center
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (5-4-0, 3-1-0 NEHC), Brockport (3-5-0, 2-3-0 SUNYAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Off the opening faceoff, the Soaring Eagles were able to force the visitors into a turnover before Bailey Krawczyk ’24 found Domitrovic in front of the net for the score at the 00:16 mark of the opening period. For Domitrovic, it was his second goal in the past two games while Krawczyk was able to get his fifth assist of the campaign.
From there, it took just four minutes for EC to strike again, this time it was Krawczyk who would score on an even-strength opportunity, unassisted, registering his second point of the evening. Over the next six minutes of play, each team was able to produce its fair share of shots before Chance Gorman ’24 put the Soaring Eagles up a trio with his goal, assisted by Nick Parody ’23. For the defenseman, it was his first assist of the season while Gorman notched his third goal.
The first period frenzy concluded at the 12:20 mark, as Toure would score a wrap-around goal in front of the net which squeaked past Golden Eagle goaltender Nolan Egbert. For Toure, the goal would go down as the eventual game-winner.
Despite the 4-0 deficit, the Golden Eagles would narrowly outshoot Elmira 16-15 in the period, while controlling the faceoff battle 16-5. Jeffrey Zero ’23 would make 16 first period saves for the Soaring Eagles.
In the second, Brockport would score just 1:05 into the frame as Josh Higgins scored on an assist from Jacob Rodrigue. The only other scoring in the period would come from Ryan Reifler ’24, his third of the season, on assists from Gorman and Jared Smith ’24. Heading into the third period, EC held onto a 5-1 advantage.
The final period featured a pair of Brockport goals, along with a goal from Graham Denomme ’23 at the 7:08 mark. The score was assisted by Domitrovic and Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24. As the game wound to a close, things would get chippy between both squads, with a goal of ten third period penalties being issued.
Zero would finish the contest with 34 saves in net, allowing just three goals while tallying his second win of the season.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to the ice on Friday, December 2 when they jump back into NEHC play with a contest against the Thoroughbreds from Skidmore College. Puck drop at the Murray Athletic Center is set for 7:00 PM before a 4:00 PM puck drop on Saturday against Castleton which marks EC’s annual Teddy Bear Toss game.
