GENEVA, N.Y. - The William Smith College ice hockey team was edged by No. 1 Elmira 4-2 at The Cooler this evening. The Herons staged a third period rally but were not able to overcome the Soaring Eagles' two goal second period.
 
Elmira (21-1-1, 16-0-0) opened the scoring at the 6:15 mark of the first period. Erin Weston fired a shot from the slot that found the back of the net. Louisa Lippiatt Durnell and Ashley Ryan were credited with assists on the Soaring Eagles goal.
 
Krista Federow had the Herons (2-20-1, 1-14-1) best scoring opportunity of the first period. She broke into the offensive zone shorthanded and wristed a shot that Elmira goalie Kelcey Crawford gloved down.
 
Ashton Hogan and Cassidy Delainey scored two minutes apart to give Elmira a 3-0 lead with seven minutes remaining in the second period. Hogan notched a power-play goal. Delainey knocked down a Brooke Wilgosh shot and left the puck for Hogan who tipped the puck past a diving Maggie Salmon. Delainey's goal came when she stickhandled past a defender and fired a shot into the upper half of the net.
 
Federow and Catherine Linehan had golden opportunities robbed by Crawford after Hogan's goal. Both players' shots came from directly in front of the net.
 
William Smith finally got on the board 20 seconds into the third period. Kiley Fewster netted a shorthanded goal firing a shot from the left circle into the upper corner of the net. Fewster's third goal of the season was an unassisted goal. Fewster notched an assist when Dori Craig cut the Soaring Eagles' lead to one goal. Fewster got a shot off from a tough angle that Crawford turned aside. Craig, who was stationed in front of the goal, sent home the rebound for her third goal of the year.
 
Rebecca Begley had two opportunities to tie the game turned aside by the Elmira goalie.
 
Elmira earned a power play with five minutes left in the period. Salmon turned away all three shots she faced. The Herons frustrated the Soaring Eagles for the entire two minutes getting bodies in passing lanes and sticks on loose pucks.
 
Hogan iced the game for the Soaring Eagles when she scored an empty net goal with just under a minute remaining in the third.
 
Salmon, who was making her sixth consecutive start between the pipes, made 47 saves including 19 in the third period. Crawford got the start in goal for Elmira and turned aside 16 shots.

Elmira went 1-5 on the power play while William Smith came away empty on both of its opportunities with the extra skater.
 
The Herons will close out their inaugural season next weekend, Feb. 21-22, when they host Cortland for a pair of ECAC West games at The Cooler.