UTICA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men’s ice hockey team kicked off the Utica University Thanksgiving Showcase with a dominant 6-1 victory over the #8 nationally-ranked Lakers from SUNY Oswego on Friday afternoon. The Soaring Eagles, who defeated the Lakers 7-3 earlier this season at the Murray Athletic Center, were led by Chance Gorman ’24 on the afternoon, who notched his second career hat trick in the victory.
Kyle Curtin ’26 would finish the contest with 39 saves between the pipes for the Soaring Eagles, picking up his sixth victory of the season.
With the win, the Soaring Eagles will await the winner of St. John’s (Minn.) and #3 Utica University, which takes place at 7:30 PM this evening. Elmira will take on the victor tomorrow evening at 7:30 PM in the Showcase finale.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 7, #8 Oswego State 1
LOCATION: Utica, New York | Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (7-2-0, 2-2-0 NEHC), Oswego State (5-3-0, 4-1-0 SUNYAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The first six minutes of the contest would go quietly on the offensive production side for both teams before Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 turned the Lakers over and pushed the puck forward to Janis Vizbelis ’24. From there, some nifty puck work from Vizbelis which involved Birch Gorman ’27, eventually led to a great pass from the senior forward to Shawn Kennedy ’24, who found the back of the net to put Elmira ahead 1-0.
- At the 13:55 mark in the first, Elmira would extend its lead as the Lakers turned the puck over in the Soaring Eagle offensive zone, which eventually found the stick of Kerfalla Toure ’26, who scored to the left side of the net with a pair of Lakers draped on him to put EC ahead 2-0.
- Just 14 seconds into the second period, the Lakers would score its first of the contest on assists from Nolan Barrett and Thomas Rocco.
- After nearly ten minutes of no scoring, the Soaring Eagles would turn the Lakers over in its offensive zone, which led to Chance Gorman ’24 being able to work the puck down the left side of the ice, around a defender, and eventually going between the legs of Laker netminder Brandon Milberg. That would be the end of the day for Milberg, who finished with ten saves in 29:20 of ice time.
- With Cal Schell in net for the Lakers, it would take less than 1:30 for Elmira to score again, as the Soaring Eagles had a successful faceoff draw in its defensive end before moving the puck up the ice. From there, Amedeo Mastrangeli ’24 and Daniel Dimon ’24 would work the puck back and forth, before a pass from Bailey Krawczyk ’24 perfectly to Domitrovic in front of the net led to the score, putting Elmira ahead 4-1.
- With just under five minutes remaining in the period, Gorman would score Elmira’s second consecutive power-play goal, as a reflected shot from Ryan Reifler ’24 found the stick of the senior forward, who flicked it in to extend the Elmira lead to 5-1.
- Just 1:16 into the third period, Goman would score his third of the contest on assists from Reifler and Jordan Gonzalez ’24, increasing the Elmira lead to 6-1.
- With just over six minutes remaining in regulation, Kennedy would notch his second score of the evening, short-handed, on an assist from Domitrovic to extend the EC lead to 7-1.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will await the winner of the St. John’s (Minn.) and Utica University game at 7:30 PM this evening. Elmira will take on its awaited opponent at 7:30 PM tomorrow evening in the Thanksgiving Showcase finale.
