SAGE FIELD HOCKEY TEAM WRAPS 2019 SEASON WITH FIRST EMPIRE 8 WIN AS GATORS DOWN, ELMIRA 5-3
Albany, NY—Sage's field hockey team hosted the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College on Friday night at UAlbany's Alumni Field. The Gators posted the program's first Empire 8 win as they beat Elmira, 5-3. With the victory, Sage wraps the season with an 8-11 record overall and a 1-6 mark in the Empire 8. Elmira drops to 6-10 overall and went 0-7 in
Elmira scored first as junior Liz Shephard (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) scored her first goal of the season on a pass from rookie Frankie Puglisi (East Rochester, NY/East Rochester) at 1:39 in the match. Sage's rookie Mia Unverzagt (Ellenville, NY/Ellenville) tied the action with her third goal of the year on a penalty corner as sophomore Charity Rushinski (Shushan, NY/Salem Central) and sophomore forward Cortney Conley (Stanfordville, NY/Pine Plains) assisted on the play at 10:09. Sage took a 2-1 lead just as the first quarter ended as senior Micalli Johnston (Plattsburgh, NY/Saranac) scored 14:59 on a pass from Rushinski.
Sage's Sara O'Connor (Rexford, NY/Niskayuna) scored the first of two goals on the night at 28:50 to give Sage a 3-1 halftime lead. O'Connor and Conley scored one goal each in the second half to help Sage to a 5-2 lead before Elmira's junior Janie Kempf (New Woodstock, NY/Cazenovia) scored at the 54:55 mark for her team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Sage's sophomore goalkeeper Abigayle Greier (Elma, NY/Iroquois Central) made one save in the match and collected the win putting her at 7-11 this season. Elmira's senior goalie Tina O'Donnell (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) had five saves in the contest and wraps the year at 6-10.
For the year, Sage's field hockey team doubled the win total from the inaugural season as they went 8-11 under rookie head coach Tamara Mills and with their victory Friday night earned the team's first Empire 8 victory after an 0-8 season in 2018 in the Empire 8.
Along the way, O'Connor more than quadrupled her scoring output from the 2018 season as she led the Gators this year with her 42 points on 17 goals with 8 assists. She became the first Sage field hockey player to surpass the 50 point plateau as she now has 52 career points on 21 goals with 10 assists. Rushinski led the Gators this fall with 9 assists and now has 14 career assists, which is first in the career record book. Sage honored their lone senior prior to the game, Micalli Johnston. Johnston leads Sage with her four career game-winning goals and wraps her time standing third with 32 points on 13 goals and 6 assists.