AURORA, N.Y. – The Elmira College field hockey program rebounded after allowing an early first-quarter goal to secure its first victory of the season as the Purple & Gold defeated Wells College 4-3 on Saturday at the Wells Turf Field. Kylie Rosen '23 paced the Soaring Eagles offensively with a pair of goals in the contest.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 4, Wells 3
LOCATION: Aurora, NY | Wells College Turf Field
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (1-11, 0-6 E8), Wells (1-8, 0-0 Ind)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Wells opened the scoring in the contest as the Express would put a loose ball into the back of the cage at the 4:06 mark of the first quarter to make it 1-0. The goal for the Express would come following an early penalty corner opportunity for the Soaring Eagles at the opposite end of the field. Elmira responded just over four minutes later to knot the score 1-1 as Rosen tipped a shot that would elude the goalkeeper and find the back of the cage.

The Soaring Eagles continued to push the pace offensively and would take a 2-1 edge over Wells just a minute later in the quarter as Frankie Puglisi '24 scored in her second consecutive outing for the Purple & Gold at the 9:02 mark. The score would hold until the final buzzer of the opening frame as Elmira netminder MeganRae Burke '24 stopped a pair of shots.

Rosen would give the Purple & Gold a 3-1 lead at the 28:46 mark of the second quarter as her shot would beat the Wells netminder to secure her second tally of the contest. The Express would not back off offensively as Wells trimmed the deficit to 3-2 less than a minute later with a goal.

The third quarter would be the turning point of the contest for the Soaring Eagles as Sarah Griffith '23 notched a goal to give Elmira a 4-2 lead at the 31:40 mark of the frame. Jenna Ellis '24 was credited with an assist on the play as she found an open Griffith inside the circle. Wells pulled to within a goal after finding the back of the cage at the 38:05 mark of the quarter but would be unable to find the equalizer down the stretch.

Burke recorded her second career win in goal for the Soaring Eagles after notching eight saves in the contest. Rosen paced Elmira in the contest with four shots on goal, while Griffith added a pair for the Soaring Eagles. Katelin Bailey '25 was also credited with an assist in the contest as she helped set up Rosen's tally in the first quarter.

UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to Empire 8 action with a road contest on October 19 against St. John Fisher at 7:00 PM. Elmira is back at the Murray Athletic Center for an E8 matchup on October 29 against Sage beginning at 2:00 P.M.