PURCHASE, N.Y. - The Purchase College men's soccer team nearly completed a comeback win Saturday afternoon, before a late strike lifted Mount Saint Mary College by the score of 3-2.

With the result, the Panthers dropped to 1-11 overall and 0-8 in the Skyline Conference. For the Knights, they moved 4-6-1 and 1-5-1, respectively.

The game was a tale of two halves, as the guests dominated the first frame, while the Blue and Orange controlled the second.

To begin, Mount Saint Mary stuck in the ninth minute off a long ball in to take the early lead. The Knights then doubled the margin off a headed corner in the 43rd minute, as they carried a 2-0 advantage into the break.

The margin was short lived though, as a converted penalty from Yahir Tafoya (FY/Bronx, NY) in the 48th minute got the Panthers right back into the contest.

Just eight minutes later, Tafoya nearly equalized for the hosts, but the outstretched foot of the Knights' keeper got just enough on the ball to keep the margin at 2-1. 

However, Purchase remained resilient and continued to push on offense. That effort paid off in the 63rd, as Oliver Broun (SO/Athens, GA) drilled a shot from 30-yards out to level the contest.

With a tie score and all the momentum, it felt like the Panthers were destined to win.

But part of the spectacle of soccer is sometimes, all you need is one moment of brilliance to change everything.

And the guests found that moment in the 82nd minute, when Marco Mazzarelli (JR/Poughkeepsie, NY) slipped a shot into the bottom of goal of a thrown in. The strike was his third of the afternoon, as the Knights used the hat trick to escape with the win.

Overall, Purchase finished with more total shots (15-11), while the guests had more on goal (9-4).

In goal, Jack Gjokaj (SR/Thornwood, NY) recorded six saves.

Up next for the Panthers is a road Skyline matchup with Maritime College on October 18th at 7 p.m.