ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Lebanon Valley College ice hockey team opened its second semester on a down note, falling to host Elmira College 8-4 Friday evening in ECAC West action.
The game marked the Flying Dutchmen's first contest under Interim Head Coach Howard Hutton.
Senior Alex Beatrice led the Dutchmen (0-12, 0-7 ECAC West) with two goals and one assist while classmate Jeff Smith scored one goal and handed out one assist. Junior Jarred Frey added a pair of assists for the Valley.
Seven different players scored a goal for Elmira (5-7-1, 2-4 ECAC West), which received two goals from Rusty Masters.
The Soaring Eagles never trailed after Masters scored on a power play 3:12 into the game. The two teams then swapped goals twice before the end of the period, with Beatrice scoring his first goal to make it 1-1 and junior Pete Rossi potting his first collegiate goal with 6:34 on the clock to tie it at 2-2. But Darin Pandovski answered for the Eagles three minutes later to give the hosts a 3-2 first-intermission lead.
Elmira gave itself some breathing room in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals to open up a 6-2 lead with 3:23 left in the stanza following an Albert Mitchell short-handed goal. The Dutchmen cut the gap to 6-3 heading into the locker room when Smith cashed in on the power play with 1:15 left in the period.
The Eagles wasted little time getting back on the scoreboard in the third period, as Dave McKenna scored on a power play 1:40 into the stanza. Stefan Schoen then put the game out of reach with Elmira's third and final power-play goal with 7:00 left before Beatrice set the final score with a short-handed goal 41 seconds before the buzzer.
Freshman Aaron Miller started in goal for LVC and made 28 saves over the opening 24:43 before sophomore Kelly Curl came on to make 16 stops over the final 35:17 while suffering the loss. Kevin Fitzpatrick collected 19 saves for Elmira, which outshot the Dutchmen 52-23.
Lebanon Valley concludes its two-game set with Elmira on Saturday, when it visits the Eagles for a 7 p.m. faceoff.
Lebanon Valley 2 1 1 - 4
Elmira 3 3 2 - 8
FIRST PERIOD
E – Rusty Masters (Justin Joy, Michael Richard), ppg, 3:12
LV – Alex Beatrice (Jarred Frey, Rob Scales), 7:51
E – Rusty Masters (Rick Lynch, Michael Richard), 12:35
LV – Pete Rossi (Matt Rowe, Jeff Smith), 13:26
E – Darin Pandovski (Derrick Ryan), 16:31
SECOND PERIOD
E – Justin Joy (Nicolas Dumoulin, Michael Richard), 4:06
E – Scott Gamble (Darin Pandovski, Nick Kiella), 15:17
E – Albert Mitchell (unassisted), shg, 16:37
LV – Jeff Smith (Alex Beatrice, Jarred Frey), ppg, 18:45
THIRD PERIOD
E – Dave McKenna (Greg Moore, Stefan Schoen), ppg, 1:40
E – Stefan Schoen (Dave McKenna), ppg, 13:00
LV – Alex Beatrice (Ryan Merritt), shg, 19:19
Shots: Lebanon Valley 23. Elmira 52
Saves: Lebanon Valley (Aaron Miller [24:43] 28, Kelly Curl [35:17] 16) 44. Elmira (Kevin Fitzpatrick) 19.
Power Plays: Lebanon Valley 1 for 4. Elmira 3 for 10.
Penalties: Lebanon Valley 10 for 20. Elmira 5 for 10.
Team Records: Lebanon Valley 0-12, 0-7 ECAC West. Elmira 5-7-1, 2-4 ECAC West.
[Photo - Senior Alex Beatrice, who had two goals and one assist in Lebanon Valley's 8-4 loss at Elmira on Friday]
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