ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College women’s ice hockey program returned home to open the 2023 calendar year on Friday as the No. 10 Soaring Eagles downed No. 7 Norwich University 3-2 inside the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena. Emma Bradbury ’26 notched a pair of goals including the eventual game-winning tally in the third period.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 3, Norwich 2
LOCATION: Elmira, New York | Murray Athletic Center
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (10-5-0, 9-0-0 NEHC), Norwich (8-4-0, 6-1-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In what felt like a championship atmosphere the Soaring Eagles and Cadets battled from the opening puck drop as both sides would have several good scoring opportunities within the early stages of the first period. The Soaring Eagles would strike first as Claire Meeder fed a pass in the slot to Bradbury that would beat the Norwich goalkeeper and find the back of the net at the 15:31 mark to make it 1-0.
Norwich would continue to push the offensive tempo early in the second period as Aimee Headland beat Elmira netminder Leonie-Louise Kuehberger ’25 just 2:20 into the frame to knot the score 1-1. The Soaring Eagles would have an answer later in the period as Meeder beat the keeper at the 5:49 mark for her sixth goal of the season to make it 2-1 in favor of the Purple & Gold. Madi Morton ’24 would get credit for the assist on Meeder’s go-ahead tally for the Soaring Eagles.
The Soaring Eagles looked like they would head into the intermission with a lead before a late penalty would give the Cadets a power-play opportunity in the second period’s final minute. Following an initial shot that would be knocked down in front of Kuehberger, the Cadets would find the loose puck and put it in the back of the net at the 19:02 mark to even the score 2-2.
Elmira would get a power-play opportunity of its own early in the third period with the score still knotted 2-2 as Meeder and Erika Goleniak ’25 would help to set up Bradbury’s second goal of the night to give EC a 3-2 advantage at the 5:15 mark of the frame. The Soaring Eagles would have to fight off a late penalty kill in the contest as Norwich would go a skater-up at the 18:45 mark before eventually pulling its goalkeeper for another skater. The final buzzer would sound as the Elmira defense tied the puck up in the corner to secure the 3-2 victory.
Kuehberger improved to 9-4-0 on the season for the Soaring Eagles after finishing with 19 saves in the contest. The Soaring Eagles won a total of 34 faceoffs in the contest as Mary McCafferty ’22 won 16 draws in the circle, while Meeder won 13 inside the circle.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to the ice on Saturday afternoon for an NEHC matchup against New England College beginning at 3:00 P.M. inside the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena.
