Pittsford, NY –Russell Sage College women's soccer team travelled to Nazareth College for an afternoon Empire 8 match with the host Golden Flyers. Nazareth tallied the 2-1 win to improve to 5-2-6 overall and 4-0-2 in the E8. The loss puts RSC at 4-8-1 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Nazareth jumped on the board early as McKayla Hughes scored just 43 seconds into the match on a pass from Sarah Meriwether.
Junior forward Marissa Key (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) tied the action with a goal at the 8:04 mark on a pass from graduate player Natalie Ricci (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes).
Tied 1-1 at the break the two teams played most of the second half deadlocked before Nazareth's McKenna Miller scored the go-ahead goal at 86:26 on a feed from Taryn McKeever.
Sophomore defender Amelia Gessler (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem Central) had a shot in the final minute of play, only to have Nazareth's Anika Monfort make the save.
The goal for Key was her first of the season, while Ricci now has four assists this season and 10 points. On her career, she now has 63 career points on 26 goals with 11 assists. She is continuing her climb in the program's career record book as she is ninth in points, and tied for 13th in assists.
RSC's graduate performer Michaela Buzzy (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) recorded a season-best 16 saves in the outing only to fall to 3-2 on the year. The performance by Buzzy stands tied for fifth best for a single-game.
Monfort made six saves in the contest for Nazareth.
The Gators return to action on October 19 hosting Hartwick College at ACP Stadium at 7 p.m. in a league match-up.