Elmira headed up to the Skidmore Invitational last weekend for what was hoped to be a feel good weekend. The Soaring Eagles took on Southern Maine in the opening round on Saturday and quickly fell behind 2-0 in the first period. Perhaps the Eagles had too much turkey on Thursday?
Fortunately for Elmira, they got things rolling in the second period and tied the game 2-2 within the first five minutes. The Soaring Eagles took a 3-2 lead a minute into the third period but Skidmore tied it midway through. Neither team scored in overtime and the tournament format called for a shootout to decide a winner.
In the shootout, two of the three Skidmore shooters scored while Elmira couldn’t get anything past Skidmore goaltending Braely Torris and the Soaring Eagles were relegated to the consolation game.
“Shootouts are always fun but you have no idea which way it is going to go,” said Elmira coach Aaron Saul. “That is the part you don’t like too much about it. It comes down to individual skill to make the difference whether you advance in the tournament or not. Give credit to Southern Maine. Their goalie made the saves and were able to score on the first two.”
Unfortunately, things didn’t go any better for Elmira on Sunday as Skidmore tallied the first three goals of the game. The Soaring Eagles couldn’t stage another dramatic comeback and settled for a 4-2 loss.
“Skidmore came out, played a great first period, and had a ton of pressure on us,” said Saul. “We kind of woke up after that, started peppering them, but couldn’t score.”
So what looked to be a chance to build some momentum as the first half of the season winds down turned into a disappointing weekend for Elmira.
“We had an opportunity to get on a bit of a roll but by tying and losing we took a step backwards,” said Saul. “It was a little deflating. Our overall effort, even though it was in the books as a tie, didn’t feel like our best hockey. And that was across the board with every guy on our team.”
Manhattanville, on the other hand, enjoyed a record tying 5-0 win against No. 10 Amherst on Friday. The five goal win ties Manhattanville’s school record for largest margin of victory over a nationally ranked team. It matches a 7-2 win over No. 3 RIT in 2002 but lagged behind a 10-0 thumping of No. 8 Hobart in 2007.
The other record that was tied in this contest was career shutouts. Junior Pierre-Olivier Lemieux earned his sixth shutout, matching Valiants career shutout leader Andrew Gallant.