Alfred, NY – Junior attack Anne Risler (Albany, NY/Academy of the Holy Names) scored 10 goals to lead The Sage Colleges to a 19-8 victory over Alfred University at Yunevich Stadium Saturday. The Gators won their Empire 8 opener are now 2-3 overall while the Saxons fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the Empire 8.
Risler became the third player in program history to score 10 or more goals in a game, and the first since Monica Koralus had 10 at home in a game vs. Elms in 2017. Alexa Veeder holds the record with 12 at Elms in 2012. Risler moved into eighth all-time in Sage career goals and now has 46. Risler had 16 shots, which is tied with three other players for the fourth most in program history. The junior also had six draw controls.
This game marked the sixth time the Gators scored a total of 19 goals in a game, and the first since the 2017 game vs. Elms. The record is 21 and Sage has two games with 20 goals each since the program began in 2009. This game produced the most goals for Sage in an Empire 8 game.
Junior midfielder Brittany Gage (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush) scored four goals on nine shots with an assist for Sage, while freshman defender Kerry McKeown (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) and sophomore midfielder Sophia Keravich (Barrington, NH/Oyster River) tallied twice each. Sophomore attack Alex Franco (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) also scored for the Gators and had a game high three assists.
Sophomore Marina Azab (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) made three saves in 30 minutes in the Sage net while sophomore Carly Plaisance (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) made one stop in her 30 minutes of action.
Madison Latranyi scored all eight goals on 11 shots and had a game best 12 draw controls for the Saxons. Taylor Miller had an assist. Paige Rowlee made 14 saves for the day for Alfred.
Sage outshot Alfred, 43-21 and had a 27-23 ground ball advantage. The Gators won 17 of the 29 draw controls and forced 39 turnovers. The game was tied at 5-5 with 7:48 remaining in the first. But Sage opened up the game by scoring six times in the final 7:22, three coming from Risler, to lead 11-5 at halftime.
The Gators will host Empire 8 rival Utica College Wednesday, March 27 at 4:00 p.m. at ACP Field. Alfred is at Keuka College for a non-league game Tuesday, March 26 at 4 p.m.
