BOSTON, MASS. – The Elmira College men’s ice hockey team jumped back into the win column on Friday evening, picking up a 6-2 road victory to kick off its final regular season road weekend of the year against UMass Boston. Elmira, which used three goals in the second period to carve its lead, received a hat trick on the evening from Janis Vizbelis ’24, who has now scored five goals in the past three contests.
Between the pipes, Kyle Curtin ’26 picked up his 13th victory of the season while making 37 saves, including 15 in the final period.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: No. 5 Elmira 6, UMass Boston 2
LOCATION: Boston, Massachusetts | Edward T. Barry Ice Arena
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (16-5-1, 9-5-1 NEHC), UMass Boston (8-12-2, 6-9-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Soaring Eagles would find the lead in the first 30 seconds of play as off a Beacons turnover in the defensive end where Nicholas Domitrovic ’24 got his stick into the action, Shawn Kennedy ’24 took it up the left side of the ice before a 2-on-1 opportunity led to Vizbelis scoring his first goal of the evening on a one-timer.
- From there, the scoring would go quiet for the remainder of the period, with both goaltenders getting involved early. For the period, Curtin would make 16 saves, while Beacon’s Sam Best made nine.
- The Beacons would knot the score at 1-1 in the second period off a goal from Jack Mortson at the 2:27 mark.
- After earning a power-play following a cross-checking call, Elmira would see its second goal of the evening scored off the stick of Ryan Reifler ’24, following a shot from Jordan Gonzalez ’24 at the top of the offensive zone.
- Just over two minutes later, Elmira would extend its lead to 3-1 after a faceoff win from Kennedy led to a nearly immediate shot from himself, which was then collected by Vizbelis who punched it home.
- The Soaring Eagles would conclude the scoring in the second period as Reifler scored his second of the evening, while extending the EC lead to 4-1.
- The third period would see three goals from the teams, as Zander Lizotte starting the scoring for the Beacons at the 2:34 mark before nearly 20 seconds later, Vizbelis scored his third goal of the evening to conclude his hat trick.
- With just under a minute remaining, the Beacons would pull its netminder as following a few shots, Nathan Young ’25 would score from his knees by sending the puck the length of the ice which snuck between the pipes, concluding the contest.
UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles wrap up its weekend tomorrow afternoon when taking on the Wildcats from Johnson & Wales University. Puck drop in Providence, Rhode Island is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
