Purchase College Women’s Lax Edged on Alumni Day

Samantha Rich (l.) and the Panthers took on Farmingdale State (above) Saturday. Rich scored four goals in FSC's 13-10 win.

Recap by Bobby Ciafardini, SID of Purchase College:
Purchase, NY (April 23, 2016) – Farmingdale State slipped past Purchase 13-10 Saturday.

The Rams, who led 5-4 at halftime, outscored the Panthers 8-6 in the second half to improve to 5-9 overall and 4-1 in the Skyline Conference. The loss is Purchase's first in league play this season. The Panthers are now 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the Skyline.

Purchase started strong holding leads of 1-0 and shortly later 3-1, but FSC's Brittany Rosino was a
hard cover, reeling off the game-tying goal to even the score at 1-1 and shortly later three straight to give FSC another tie and then 4-3 lead (10:44).

Rosino would finish with a game-high six goals. Alexandra Sparrow added three and four others for the visitors would record single goals.

The Panthers were led offensively by Samantha Rich (SR/Providence, RI), who scored four times, and Kelly Turtell (SO/Farmingdale, NY), who accounted for three goals and three assists in another strong effort.

Purchase closed to within one in the second half on a Zoe Hines (SO/Maplewood, NJ) goal. The athletic shot energized the hosts, but FSC countered with two straight and five of the next six goals during an early run in the second half that proved to be the difference in the game.

Like Hines, Emma Porter (SO/Homer, NY) also had a nice acrobatic goal for the Panthers in the second. She finished with two on the day.

Daniella Martins (SO/Mahopac, NY) was a bright spot for the Panthers. She finished with six ground balls and four caused turnovers. Her six ground balls ties the single-game mark this season, while the four are second for a single game this spring.

At halftime, the Panthers honored their alumni during the program's first-ever Alumni Day. With a large crowd on hand, "pioneers" Rebecca Small, Jasmine Rippey and Alyssa Rosado were recognized for helping to get the program started. The Panthers have gone from 0-11 their first season (2013) to five victories in 2014 to a semifinal participant in 2015 (11 wins) and now a team that is fighting for the No. 1 spot in 2016, sporting a 4-1 conference record.

Purchase has two games remaining in the regular season. The Panthers return to action Tuesday at home against Sage.