ALBANY, N.Y. -- Playing under the lights on the University at Albany's Alumni Turf on Friday night, the Elmira College field hockey team concluded the 2019 regular season with a 5-3 loss to The Sage Colleges.

With the Empire 8 Conference loss, the Soaring Eagles wrapped up the fall with a 6-10 overall record (0-7 E8), tying last year's record for the most wins in a season since 2005. On the other hand, Sage improved to 8-11 (1-6 E8) with the win.

EC grabbed an early lead by scoring the first goal of the night in just the second minute. On the team's first penalty corner, Liz Shephard '21 inserted the ball to the top of the arc to Kelsie Aloi '21, who made a quick pass to Frankie Puglisi '23 on the right. Puglisi took a shot that was headed towards the back post, where Shephard was in position for a redirect past Sage keeper Abigayle Greier.

The host Gators answered with three consecutive goals before halftime, including a last-second goal as the first quarter expired, which put Sage ahead for good. But seven-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, the Purple and Gold cut the deficit to one at 3-2. After making a long run down the right sideline, Aloi knocked a centering pass to Jenna Heiser '23, who then tapped the ball to fellow freshman Kylie Rosen '23 for the finish.

The momentum quickly shifted back in Sage's favor, however, as Sara O'Connor deposited her second goal of the night 80 seconds later. Cortney Conley widened the lead to 5-2 for the Gators in the 45th minute, a cushion large enough to put the game out of reach despite one last score by Elmira's Janie Kempf '21 in the 55th minute.

News and Notes

• With six wins in 2019, Elmira tied last season (6-11) for the most victories since 2005.
• Kempf ended her junior season with a team-leading and career-high 10 goals and 24 points.
• On EC's all-time single-season leaderboard, Kempf tied Callie Black '05 for seventh in points and goals.
• Heiser recorded the first point of her collegiate career with one assist against the Gators.
• Shephard's goal marked the first of her career with the Soaring Eagles.
• Rosen ends 2019 leading all EC freshmen with five tallies.
• Rookies Sarah Griffith '23 and Puglisi also got into the scoring action with one assist apiece on Friday night.
• Of Elmira's 14 field players, 11 ended the season with at least one point.
• With five saves, goalie Tina O'Donnell '20 finished her senior campaign with 144 stops.
• Despite the loss, O'Donnell ended her final season with new program records for save percentage (.858) and goals-against average (1.45).