Monday, March 16, 2009

Women's Hockey Update

My name is Rebecca Coakley '08, and I am an Admissions Counselor at Elmira College. I graduated from Elmira last year where I was a proud member of the Varsity Women’s Hockey team for four years. Last weekend the Soaring Eagles of Elmira hosted the ECAC tournament. The four teams participating in the tournament were; Elmira, Plattsburgh, RIT, and Neumann. On Saturday the Soaring Eagles took on Neumann College and played well coming out on top by a score of eight to one.














Next on the list was Plattsburgh State who they played on Sunday. It’s challenging for me to put into words how amazing the game was. Over my four years as a player I have played Plattsburgh over ten times. They are a strong and deep program, who are extremely well coached, and always show up to play their best whenever we face each other. The Soaring Eagles scored first which is clutch in these games. After the first goal was scored the domes went nuts which set the tone and delivered a strong message- you are in our house. Both teams continued to play hard and the final score was 3-0.

As a retired player it was bittersweet for me to see my former teammates and best friends playing some of the best hockey I have ever seen them play. I could not be more proud of the women for their accomplishments. Scoring three unanswered goals against a nationally ranked team is huge, however arguably bigger is shutting out one of the top teams in the nation. Allison Cubberley ‘09 (goalie for the soaring eagles, and ECAC player of the tournament) said it best after the game, “A shut out is a team effort”, and that’s exactly what the soaring eagles put forth on Sunday. The season is far from over and next up is Norwich this Saturday at home. The winner of Saturday’s game will travel to Middlebury College for the frozen four. If the girls win next Saturday I will be hopping on the computer to book my hotel room. I am confidant I will be taking a road trip in two weekends to see the women play in the frozen four and I can’t wait!



Congratulations to the Women’s hockey team and the coaches!!!