PINE VALLEY, NY – The Elmira College Soaring Eagles women's ice hockey team hosted the Continentals of Hamilton College in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday evening at the Murray Athletic Center. With the game tied at 2-2 after 60 minutes and the five-minute overtime, Piper Andrews was able to score the lone goal in a shootout for Elmira.  

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The game started out strong with both sides creating scoring opportunities. Both goalies were up to the challenge early as the scoreless draw remained throughout the first period. Olivia Last made a great save on a backdoor opportunity to keep Hamilton off the scoreboard with a few minutes remaining in the first. Hamilton outshot the Soaring Eagles 7-4 in the opening period. 

The Continentals opened the second period on a powerplay that the Soaring Eagles were able to diminish. Elmira got a lucky bounce early in the period as a Hamilton shot hit the crossbar seven minutes in. A few minutes later, Annie Audet sent a hard shot from the blue line on net, but a last second kick save from the Hamilton goaltender kept zeros on the board. The Soaring Eagles had a pair of fastbreak opportunities late in the period with shots by Iliana Smith and MK Boyle, but both were saved by the Hamilton netminder, and the contest remained deadlocked at zero. The Continentals were outshooting Elmira 17-11 heading into the second intermission.

Hamilton broke the scoreless tie with a powerplay goal three minutes into the third period. The Soaring Eagles got a powerplay chance immediately following the Hamilton goal. EC got four shots with the player advantage, including a good chance from the slot by Anna Lugge, but were unable to find the back of the net. The Soaring Eagles hit the board when Lugge took a center ice pass from Boyle, skated in and beat the Hamilton goaltender to tie the game. Bella Tomasso had the secondary assist on the breakout pass. Elmira took the lead less than a minute later as Abby Eselunas scored on a 2-on-1 opportunity, receiving the pass from Lugge. Bri Conger had the secondary assist for the Soaring Eagles on the go-ahead goal. Hamilton tied up the game with seven minutes remaining as the puck got knocked down in front and the rebound was put in. Both teams had high scoring chances over the last several minutes, including a post hit by Emma Morel However, no goals were scored and the game was sent into overtime. The Continentals had outshot the Soaring Eagles 33-30 at the end of regulation. 

The Soaring Eagles opened OT on a powerplay after a late regulation penalty by Hamilton. The powerplay was killed and then erased, as the Soaring Eagles took a penalty a minute into the extra period. EC was able to kill the Hamilton powerplay with some nice saves by Olivia Last. There were limited chances during the overtime session, each team recording three shots, but nobody was able to score. Piper Andrews scored on Elmira's first shot during the shootout to give the Soaring Eagles the advantage. Last stopped all three Hamilton shooters to push the Soaring Eagles to a shootout victory, 3-2.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles travel to Hilbert College for a UCHC conference matchup with the Hawks on Friday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 3:30 PM.