Alfred, NY — The Sage Colleges' women's soccer team travelled to Alfred University on Saturday night for an Empire 8 match. The Gators got a hat trick from sophomore forward Natalie Ricci (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) to lift the team past the Saxons, 3-2 and give Sage a key conference win. Sage is now 6-3 overall with a 2-1 league mark, while Alfred drops to 4-4-3 overall and 0-2-1 in the conference.

Ricci scored three unanswered goals to propel Sage past the Saxons. She scored the first goal at 3:57 on a pass from sophomore midfielder Angela Gonzalez (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) at 3:57. She scored her second goal of the night at 17:58 to give Sage a 2-0 lead the break. She scored her final goal of the night at 46:50 in what turned out to be the game-winner as she collected the feed from junior midfielder Lydia Malkiewicz (Schenectady, NY/Colonie Central) at 46:50.

Alfred made the second half exciting as they scored the first goal at 49:32 as Olivia Cronmiller put the Saxons on the board on a feed from Emily Wright. Alfred's Amanda Guariglia cut Sage' lead to just one goal as she scored at 82:25, but Sage was able to hold on for the 3-2 win on Saturday night.

Sage's rookie keeper Kallan Shertzer (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) finished with nine saves in the action in earning the win having faced 22 Alfred shots. Alfred's Hannah Fuller made five saves in taking the loss.

On the year, Ricci has taken over the Sage scoring race with her seven goals and 19 points, while Shertzer is now 6-4 overall with 74 saves.

Sage is back in action on October 8 hosting SUNY-Delhi in a 7 p.m. home contest with the Broncos' at ACP Stadium in conjunction with Sage's Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night.