Elmira College women edge Nazareth, return to NCAA Division III hockey final four
Holly Riva scored the deciding goal with less than three minutes to play Saturday afternoon as the Elmira College women's hockey team downed Nazareth, 2-1, in an NCAA Division III quarterfinal at Bill Gray's Iceplex in Rochester.
Riva's goal with 2 minutes, 17 seconds remaining came off a Mary McCafferty assist. Five minutes earlier, Nazareth's Ally Watrous scored an unassisted goal to even the score at 1-1.
Erika Goleniak scored off a Riva assist five minutes into the second period to give EC a 1-0 advantage.
Elmira's Leonie Kuehberger matched the 26 saves of Nazareth goalie Adrianna Brehm.
Elmira was also a 2-1 winner over Nazareth during the regular season. No other team beat the Golden Flyers (27-2) this season.
The Soaring Eagles were coming off a 4-0 win over Castleton University in the New England Hockey Conference championship game March 5.
EC back in the final four
This will be Elmira's first appearance in the national semifinals since 2018, when the Soaring Eagles lost to Norwich, 2-1, in the championship game after a 3-2, double-overtime semifinal win over Plattsburgh State.
The Soaring Eagles will be making their 11th final four appearance in the program's 21 seasons. Elmira won national championships in 2002, 2003 and 2013.
Elmira posted a 13-1 record last season and won the UCHC championship with a 5-1 win over Nazareth. There was no NCAA Tournament last year because of COVID. EC qualified for the 2020 NCAA Tournament but it got canceled before the Soaring Eagles' scheduled quarterfinal against Adrian.
Up next
Third-ranked Elmira (25-2-1) will face host Middlebury (25-0) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. March 18 in Middlebury, Vermont. Top-ranked Middlebury was a 4-0 quarterfinal winner over Endicott on Saturday. Plattsburgh will play Gustavus Adolphus at 3 p.m. in the first semifinal. The championship follows March 19.
The Soaring Eagles lost 2-1 to Middlebury at Plattsburgh's Panther/Cardinal Classic on Nov. 27.
Elmira men fall to Hobart
The Elmira College men's season came to a close Saturday night with a 4-2 loss at Hobart in the opening round of the 12-team Division III Tournament.
Hobart grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period and led the rest of the way.
Shawn Kennedy and Christian Abrams scored for Elmira, which finished with an 18-7-2 record after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
Hobart (20-5-2) advances to play Adrian in a quarterfinal March 19.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira beat Nazareth in an NCAA Division III hockey quarterfinal
