Troy, NY—The Sage Colleges' field hockey team launched their first varsity season under the auspices of the NCAA Division III and hosted the Owls of Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon at RPI's Harkness Field. The contest marked the debut of Sage's field hockey coach Gillian McDonald at the helm of the program. The Gators fell to the Owls, 4-1 on opening day before an excited crowd of field hockey enthusiasts. With the win, WSU is now 1-0 and Sage falls to 0-1 on the young season.
The Owls led 2-0 at the half as senior forward Brittany Bowes (Leicester, MA/Leicester) struck early on a scramble in front of the Sage goal for her first goal of the year at just 0:28. Right before the half, rookie forward Allie Giguere (Lyn, MA/Bishop Fenwick) scored her first career goal giving WSU a 2-0 lead at 30:41.
Bowes found the goal again at 38:31 on a feed from senior Jordyn Gosselin (Bolton, VT/Mount Mansfield) for her second score on the day.
Sage made the most of a penalty corner opportunity and after the initial shot attempt was saved, Gator rookie Samantha Marrish (Hudson, NY/Germantown) etches her name into the record books for the first goal in the program's history. She capitalized on the feed from freshman Cortney Conley (Stanfordville, NY/Stissing Mountain) at 48:34, cutting the lead to 3-1. WSU scored one more time as rookie Cheryl Latona (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) scored on a feed from senior midfield Carly Zona (Auburn, MA/Auburn) at 55:38.
Sage's rookie keeper Abigayle Greier (Elma, NY/Iroquois Central) made her debut in net and made nine saves for the day. She was aided by some tough defensive play as Sage combined for four defensive saves in the match, including a pair by Marrish. WSU's rookie goalie Riley Goulet (Marion, MA/Old Rochester) earned the win through 60 plus minutes of service with two saves. Sophomore Katie Vamosi (Easton, MA/Oliver Ames) worked the final minutes of the contest with no saves.
Sage is back in action on September 7 at Dean College for a 7 p.m. match-up.