BOXSCORE PINE VALLEY, N.Y. – Fredonia State fell to 2-4 with a 5-0 loss Tuesday to the Elmira Soaring Eagles in men's ice hockey. The Soaring Eagles – members of ECAC West – improved to 3-4.
Five different players had one goal and 11 Soaring Eagles had at least one point. Freshman goaltender Sal Migliocco earned the shutout with 28 saves.
Elmira scored bookend goals to take a 2-0 lead after one period. Jesper Strale scored 1:46 into the period, and Nick Owen scored with 1:05 left. Both were even-strength goals.
Elmira went on the power-play early in the second period and was held at bay as freshman goaltender
Christopher Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) made four saves during the penalty-kill. A few shifts later, Elmira took a 3-0 lead on an even-strength goal by Eddie Nolan, which led to freshman
Jeff Flagler (Owen Sound, Ont.) replacing Eiserman, who faced 27 shots in just over 31 minutes.
The Blue Devils had a power-play chance of their own, yet managed just one shot – an attempt by
Alex Perkins (St. Albert, Alberta). Flagler countered with four saves during Elmira's next unsuccessful power-play chance later in the second period.
Fredonia State continued to play with fire in the third period with successive penalties, including an overlap of 16 seconds for a 5-on-3 advantage for Elmira. Flagler made six saves – he finished with 23 – before the Soaring Eagles cashed in on a goal by Greg Whittle for a 4-0 lead. It was Elmira's 12th power-play goal of the season, ranked near the top of NCAA Division III.
Josh Burnell became the fifth Elmira goal-scorer at 10:20 of the third period. Three minutes later, Burnell went to the penalty box for hooking and gave the Blue Devils their second power-play chance. Again, the Blue Devils managed one shot, this time by freshman defenseman
Zach White (Taberg, N.Y.).
Sophomore forward
Stephen Castriota (Bellport, N.Y.) took five shots for the Blue Devils, who were outshot 52-28. Freshman forward
Frankie Hart (Timmins, Ont.) was the Blue Devils' face-off leader – he won 9 of 12 draws.
Fredonia State heads to Buffalo State for a SUNYAC game at 7 p.m. Friday.
