CHICOPEE, Mass. - The Purchase College women's lacrosse team lost in overtime Friday night, 11-10, at Elms College in a non-conference matchup. 

The loss dropped the Panthers to 1-3 on the year, while the Blazers of Elms improved to 4-1.

Elms struck first in the contest, before Gabriella Castles (SO/Bethpage, NY) connected on a feed from Maddy Mecca (SO/Oceanside, NY), tying the contest at one with six minutes played. Over the next 13-plus minutes, the Blazers outscored the Panthers, 4-1, as a second goal from Castles was all Purchase could put on the board. 

However, Purchase remained confident on the offense end, especially with Castles leading the charge. The sophomore tallied two more first-half goals, both on free-position attempts, to cut the deficit to 5-4 at the halftime break. 

To begin the second frame, Purchase jumped in front for the first time all game, as Castles added her fifth goal and Astrella Dacosta (JR/Croton-on-Hudson, NY) scored a free-position attempt. Unfortunately, Elms College quickly responded with the tying goal, before retaking the lead minutes later. The Panthers were ready for the back-and-forth battle though, as they guests rallied off three-straight goals, snatching the lead back, 9-7.

Sigrid Cassell (FR/Huntington, NY) opened the streak and Dacosta added a pair of goals to fuel the Panther attack, as they led with just over 13 minutes remaining. However, just two minutes later, the Blazers cut the advantage in half, before tying the contest at 9-9 with less than five minutes to go.

A quick response from Dacosta put the Panthers in the driver's seat once more, but Elms was able to find the back of the net with just 71 seconds remaining. 

From there, the teams played a scoreless game the rest of the second half, as well as the opening minutes of overtime. But the Blazers had enough juice left on the offensive end, as the hosts scored with a little over a minute remaining in the first overtime to take the sudden-death period, 11-10.

On the day, Purchase was better on draw controls and clears, but lost the ground ball and turnover battles. Brianna Pirozzi (JR/Staten Island, NY) finished with nine saves for the Panthers, while Emily Huber (SO/Jefferson, ME) collected 15 saves in the win for Elms. 

Castles finished with five goals and six draw controls for Purchase, while Dacosta added four goals and four draw controls. 

Up next for the Panthers is the start of Skyline play, as the team hosts St. Joseph's College-Long Island on March 28th. That game is set for a 4 p.m. start and you can follow it here.