PINE VALLEY, N.Y. (WETM) – The Soaring Eagles are one step closer to a second straight NEHC championship.

The top-seeded Elmira College women’s ice hockey team rolled past 8th-seeded Salem State 7-0 at home in the NEHC quarterfinals on Saturday. Katie Manning scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot in the first period to put EC in front 1-0. McKenzie Schmidt skated in and scored a short-handed goal for the Purple & Gold early in the second period to give Elmira a 2-0 lead.

The Soaring Eagles would pull away with three goals in the second period and three more goals in the third period. Mary McCafferty scored back-to-back goals to make it a 5-0 game in the third period. Hannah Aveni made 52 saves in goal for the Vikings.

Elmira College (20-5) entered the NEHC tournament an undefeated 17-0 in conference play. The Soaring Eagles will host William Smith in an NEHC semifinal game next Saturday at 3:00 p.m.