Hughson, MacLean Earn EC Athlete of the Week Awards

2018 Jan 18

The Elmira College Athlete of the Week award winners for the week ending January 14th are Sarah Hughson '18 of the nationally-ranked women's ice hockey team and Spencer MacLean '20 of the men's ice hockey team.

Hughson has asserted herself as one of the nation's premier goal scorers in her senior campaign, and this weekend's home-and-home series with Utica College was no different. The East Haddam, Connecticut, native paced the No. 1/3-ranked Soaring Eagles with four goals and five points in the two-game sweep of the Pioneers, including her second hat trick of the season in Friday night's home bout at the Murray Athletic Center.

The 5-0 win in the series opener was fueled by Hughson's three-goal performance. Her first two goals - the first came at the end of the opening period and the latter was tallied just 23 seconds into the third - both came from the right-wing side and both beat Utica goalie Bria Reilly high on her glove side. Her final score came on the power play, as she buried a cross-crease pass from Katie Granato '19 past a sprawling Reilly at the 8:55 mark of the final stanza.

Hughson also played a big role in Saturday's 5-2 victory in Utica, as she broke a 2-2 tie with the eventual game-winning goal on the power play in the second period. It not only marked her second game-winner in as many nights, but the extra-skater tally moved the senior forward into first place in all of Division III with her eighth power-play goal of the year. She also earned an assist in the final minute of regulation on an empty-netter from Louisa Lippiatt Durnell '18.

On the season, Hughson is tied for sixth in the country in goals per game (1.00) and eighth in points per game (1.67), while leading the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) in total points (25).

The No. 1/3 EC women will remain home for a non-conference matchup against the No. 3/2 Norwich University Cadets on Saturday, January 20. The opening puck drop for the matchup between the two national powers is slated for 3:00 p.m. at the MAC.

MacLean only scored one goal for the Elmira men in their home-and-home series with No. 15/15 Buffalo State, but it was an important one. Just 24 hours after the Bengals shut out the Soaring Eagles in Buffalo, New York, on Friday night, the Purple and Gold responded in a big way, securing their fourth win of the season over a ranked opponent in a thrilling 3-2 victory on their home ice.

Buffalo State took advantage of a critical third-period power-play opportunity and leveled the score at 2-all midway through the frame. However, 2:38 seconds later the puck rebounded perfectly to MacLean off of the leg pad of Bengals goalie Ian Sylves and the 6-foot-5-inch sophomore forward tickled the twine with a wrister from the right faceoff circle.

The goal was MacLean's eighth of the season, good enough for third place on the team and a two-way tie for sixth in the UCHC. The Kleinburg, Ontario, native is also tied for first in the league and sixth in the nation with three game-winners.

MacLean and the Soaring Eagles will return to conference play on Friday, January 19, when the Soaring Eagles travel to the Playland Ice Casino in Rye, New York, for a 7:00 p.m. contest against the Valiants of Manhattanville College.