Just one month after returning to my roots in Horseheads I find myself heading back, and once again for a hockey game. One where the stakes are high and involving the club with the area’s best and longest history of success on the playing surface as Saturday night would feature an NCAA D-III Quarterfinal at the Murray Center(aka “The Domes”) between Trinity College and the hosts at Elmira College.

(Note:Trinity College is not the school whose football team pulled off that wacky multi lateral play last fall. That would be Trinity University, but I digress…..)

For over three decades Elmira College’s hockey team has been one of the top D-III programs in the nation on a consistent basis. Since the program’s inception as a varsity sport back in 1974 the club has amassed an impressive resume of accomplishments including the following….twelve All-Americans, eight conference titles, twelve trips to the NCAA tournament with six appearances in the Final Four. Many players have gone on to play professionally either here or overseas.

Their history of coaches isn’t too shabby either. Tune in to any Sabres game and you’ll see a former EC coach(’81-87) in Brian McCutcheon. Ditto in Phoenix as Barry Smith(’75-’81) is another who once stood behind the bench at “The Domes”.

Ahhh…yes, The Domes. Hmmm….how to describe the home venue. Built in the early 70’s, the Murray Athletic Center is Elmira College’s major athletic venue and in some ways is Elmira’s version of “why the heck did we build UB out in Amherst?” Imagine a small school of less than two thousand students in a small town having its athletic facilities built ten miles away from campus at a location that makes the middle of nowhere seem like Times Square and you get the idea. Smart move huh???

The hockey arena is very large by D-III standards seating over three thousand mostly on wooden bleachers and is barely heated if at all. The joke has been that at times it’s warmer outside during a hockey game than inside(I can tell you that on some nights in which I was there that may have been fact). And when a big crowd there it’s a pain to get to and from, as there’s only one well travelled two lane road(Rt. 14) to get you in or out of the venue. D-III’s version of Foxboro more or less.

But it’s homey, and if you’re a fan of the Soaring Eagles The Domes is a place that will grow on you. For the locals it certainly has as they have frequently reached attendance figures that many D-I programs would love to have, though in recent seasons it has dwindled a bit with the presence of the ECHL Jackals saturating the market. And for my money, it’s the site of the greatest, most exciting, and exhilirating sporting event that I’ve ever been to. EVER! But that’s for another post(See next post down).

Oh yes, the game…..Elmira ran roughshod all over Trinity for a decisive 6-1 win that really wasn’t that close.(though Trinity certainly appeared to have scored another goal in the eyes of all save for the goal judge.) Elmira scored the first five goals of the game and kept the Bantams off the board until about seven minutes left in the game. And the nearly two thou in attendance went home happy knowing that Elmira would be headed for Lake Placid and its seventh Final Four in program history.

And maybe this time, they’ll finally come home with that elusive hardware.

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