PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – Erika Goleniak ’25 netted a goal with 6:44 left to play in the third period as the No. 10 Elmira College women’s ice hockey program rallied to defeat Castleton University 2-1 on Friday night at the Murray Athletic Center in a New England Hockey Conference matchup.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 2, Castleton 1
LOCATION: Pine Valley, New York | Murray Athletic Ice Arena
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (17-5-0, 15-0-0 NEHC), Castleton (12-9-1, 9-6-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Castleton would sneak a shot past the Soaring Eagles with just 19 seconds left in the first period to take a 1-0 lead as Meg Aiken found herself with space low in the slot. The Soaring Eagles would take a 20-7 advantage in shots into the intermission as Elmira was unable to solve Castleton goalkeeper Kirsten DiCicco.
The Soaring Eagles would look to gain some momentum midway through the second period as Elmira would successfully kill a Castleton power play behind a pair of huge saves from netminder Leonie-Louise Kuehberger ’25. Just 20 seconds after having a potential game-tying goal waived off, the Soaring Eagles would finally strike on the power play as Mary McCafferty ’22 put home a loose puck with 42.5 seconds remaining in the frame to knot the score 1-1.
Elmira would work to keep the puck in its offensive zone against the Spartans with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period as a clear attempt by Castleton would be knocked down by Madi Morton ’24. Morton would play the puck forward to Goleniak, who worked around a defender and buried a shot top-shelf over DiCicco’s shoulder to give Elmira a 2-1 lead with 6:44 left on the clock.
The Spartans would pull the goaltender with just over a minute left on the clock for an extra skater but would be called for an interference penalty with 1:13 left to send the Soaring Eagles to the power play. Elmira would run down the clock and preserve the 2-1 victory as the Soaring Eagles celebrated their senior class while playing in their final regular season home game at the Murray Athletic Center.
Kuehberger finished the contest with 18 saves for the Soaring Eagles and improved to 15-4-0 on the season, while Jenny Heath ’22, Katie Manning ’25, Morgan Mordini ’22, and Morton each added an assist for Elmira. McCafferty tallied 16 wins in the faceoff circle for Elmira, while Claire Meeder ’23 added 10 faceoff wins.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold will have an off day on Saturday after its matchup at home against Plymouth State was canceled. Elmira will receive three points in the NEHC standings per league rules and returns to action next Friday with a matchup on the road against New England College at 6:00 P.M.
