Purchase, NY (Sept. 27, 2010) – It took them eight games and an extraordinary rainy evening to taste victory, but when they did, the Purchase College men's soccer team soaked it all up.

From the torrential down pour to a contested battle with visiting Sarah Lawrence to the goal that broke their winless streak, the Panthers felt a sense of relief Monday night as Ki Walker (JR/Royalton, VT) buried home a game winner for the ages in Purchase's 2-1 victory over the Gryphons.

You could say the skies opened for the Panthers, who are now 1-6-1.

Walker scored in the 88th minute off a perfectly placed ball by midfielder Sebastian Ribeiro (SR/Brooklyn, NY). Ribero assisted on both of Purchase's two scores.

Sarah Lawrence struck first as Rodrigo Cuenca took full advantage of the sloppy field to sneak one past Purchase goalkeeper David Kurzweil (SR/Bedford, NY). Kurzweil let the ball slip past him on the slippery pitch for a quick 1-0 lead. The Gryphons were on the board inside the first minute.

But the Panthers responded with a goal about 16 minutes in behind a gorgeous feed from Ribero to teammate Luke Charbonneau (SR/Saratoga Springs, NY), who netted the equalizing goal at 15:31 in the first half.

The two teams were locked in a stalemate the rest of the way until Walker helped the Panthers avoid overtime and end their winless streak in style.

The Gryphons nearly tied the score in the final 16 seconds, firing one more shot on goal.

Harper Hunt's attempt would have evened the score at 2-2, but Kurzweil reflected the ball away, and the defense cleared it to seal the win.