Albany, NY – Sage's women's soccer team hosted the Panthers of SUNY-Old Westbury on Saturday in a Skyline Conference match. After trailing 3-0 at the half to the Panthers, Sage's sophomore forward Savannah Mason (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) single-handedly propelled the Gators to the win with her four unanswered goals. Sage improves to 5-3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Skyline, while Old Westbury drops to 5-5-1 overall and 0-3 in the league.
Sage's head women's soccer coach Andrew Gamarra said, "It is always special to see your team battle back from a deficit, but what we did today was unbelievable. " Gamarra added, "Old Westbury's Stephanie Maybie disrupted our defense in the first half and capitalized on her opportunities. However, we were able to limit Old Westbury's opportunities in the second half by tightening the defense. Teagan Waddingham has been a standout player for us, and today she made some critical saves to keep us in the game. The whole team contributed to orchestrate fantastic offensive opportunities which Savannah Mason finished with composure."
Old Westbury took a 1-0 lead as senior forward Stephanie Maybie (North Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) pushed in her team-leading 17th goal of the year at 15:55. The Panthers then tallied back to back goals in the 38th and 39th minutes as rookie Mayra Bonilla (Brentwood, NY/Brentwood) and senior Jordan Schildt (East Yaphank, NY/Longwood) each found the net. Leading 3-0 at the break, SUNY-Old Westbury allowed four unanswered goals, all from Sage's Mason as she scored the first at 46:44 to change the momentum in favor of the Gators.
By game's end, Mason had eight points and another game-winning goal, elevating her team-leading total to 10 goals and 21 points. She also has four game-winning goals as well.
Sage's keeper, senior Teagan Waddingham (Coeymans Hollow, NY/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk) finished the afternoon with seven saves, while SUNY-Old Westbury's senior Caitlin Thomas (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) took the loss after making five saves with four goals allowed.
Sage returns to action on Wednesday, October 8 hosting Purchase College in a 7 p.m. Skyline Conference match which takes place at Lansingburgh High School.