Purchase, NY (Mar. 11, 2019) – Sophomores Gabriella Castles and Maddy Mecca combined for 10 goals to lead the Purchase College women's lacrosse team its first win of the 2019 season. The Panthers downed Southern Vermont College, 14-5, in non-conference action Monday afternoon.

With the win, Purchase moves to an even .500 at 1-1 overall. The visiting Mountaineers drop to 0-3 overall.

Castles (Bethpage, NY) registered the first two goals in the opening seven minutes of the game to give Purchase an early 2-0 lead.

Southern Vermont's Megan Macdonald earned her first goal of the season and put the visitors on the board with an unassisted shot at 20:36.

Purchase answered back with a 6-0 run to close the first half out in front, 8-1. Castles recorded her first hat trick of the season with a goal at 18:40 and added another at 6:49. Mecca (Oceanside, NY) also netted a hat trick before the break, while junior midfielder Astrella Dacosta (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) registered her first of three in the game at 5:43.

Mecca got to work right away for Purchase in the second half. Less than a minute into the stanza, she notched a goal off the feed of Castles to push PC's lead to 9-1.

The Panthers registered another five goals en route to the 14-5 non-conference victory.

Mecca and Castles paced the Panther offense with five goals apiece. Mecca added two assists and Castles finished with one, while Dacosta recorded her first hat trick of the season with three goals and one assist. Freshman midfielder Sigrid Cassell (Huntington, NY) completed the Panther scoring with one goal.

Dacosta finished with a game-high nine ground balls, five draw controls and caused nine Mountaineer turnovers.

Junior goalkeeper Brianna Pirozzi (Staten Island, NY) (1-1) earned her first career win in net after collecting four saves and two ground balls.

Southern Vermont's Sydnee Julian finished with nine saves and was tagged with her third loss of the season.