Purchase, NY (April 5, 2017) – Sage held off a furious Purchase rally in the second half to edge the Panthers 16-13 Wednesday night.

The game opened with a flurry. Three goals were scored in the first minute of play.

Purchase led 2-1 very early, but the Gators rattled off seven straight goals after tying the matchup, before the hosts got back on the board.

Emma Porter (JR/Homer, NY) took over the game and immediately got Purchase back in the action, scoring three straight – the second of which was assisted by Zoe Hines (JR/Maplewood, NJ).

Hines and Kelly Turtell (JR/Farmingdale, NY) closed out the scoring in the first half with back-to-back goals. The final two brought Purchase within two goals heading into the second period. Meaghan Gillen (FR/Port Jervis, NY), who scored the game's first goal, assisted Hines, while Porter fed Turtell for the team's seventh goal.

Sage's Monica Koralus scored five of the team's nine first-half goals.

But the visitors rebounded early in the second half, firing in three straight scores, including another on a free position attempt by Koralus – her 29th of the spring.     

The Gators would score twice after that, but Purchase answered by netting six of the next seven goals in a span of seven minutes of play. Resilient Purchase would not go quietly.

However, the hosts simply ran out of time.

Although the Panthers would get another two scores from Porter and Turtell and another goal from Hines, the Gators held on for the three-goal victory.

Porter finished with a team-high six goals. Turtell added four. Hines finished with three assists. Porter also notched two assists in the loss. 

Sage got eight goals from Koralus and three more from Nicole Maher. Koralus now has 31 goals on the season. 

After holding a 9-7 advantage at the break, Sage sealed the win by outlasting Purchase 7-6 in the second period.

On a more positive note for the hosts, recent Panther adoptee Gia Gentile from the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation was introduced during the starting lineups along with siblings Tino and Jordana (see photo above). The youngsters sat with the Panthers on the bench during the game.