Knights Eliminated From Conference Championship

NEWBURGH – The Mount Saint Mary College Men’s Soccer team was knocked out of the 2021 Skyline Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon following a 6-0 First Round loss to the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Junior Zach Decker closed the contest with six saves for the Mount.

Saturday’s loss drops Mount Saint Mary 9-7-1 overall, while USMMA improves to 11-8 as it advances to the Semifinal Round at Manhattanville on Wednesday.

First Half
The Mariners broke Saturday’s game open early with three tallies in the first 23 minutes of play.

David Kelly posted a natural hat trick, scoring the Mariners’ first three goals.

The eventual game winner came off a pass from Connor Damare at 3:37.

Kelly’s second tally came at the 15:30 mark when he collected a loose ball in the box and pushed the visitors in front 2-0.

USMMA took a three-goal advantage at the 22:04 mark of the tilt when Kelly converted a penalty kick.

USMMA pushed its advantage to 4-0 late in the first half when Derek Vanasse scored his sixth goal of the year off a crossing pass from Maximilian Farris at the 37:14 mark of the contest.

USMMA closed the opening 45 minutes with a 10-4 advantage in shots.

Corner kicks in the first period went to the Knights 3-1.

Decker posted three stops in the first half.

USMMA keeper Chase Miller turned aside a pair of Mount Saint Mary attempts prior to the intermission.

Second Half
The Mariners added two more goals in the second half to close out the victory.

Cole Blake converted his fourth goal of the season off an assist from James Roland to balloon the advantage to 5-0.

Luke Sturtz closed out the scoring in the game with his first of the season with Wesley Cooke providing the helper at 81:33.

The Mariners held a 9-4 edge in shots after halftime.

USMMA took six of the seven corner kicks in the second half.

Decker recorded three more stops in the second half.

Miller preserved the shutout with a trio of stops after the break.

For The Knights
Joseph Mesoraca led the Mount with four shots in the game, including two shots on target.

Connor Doyle added two shots, with one on goal.

Decker finished with six stops for the Knights.

For USMMA
Kelly scored his first three goals of the season in the win.

Kelly, Abram Ehrhorn, Sturtz, and Miguel Millan al finished with three shots.

Miller recorded his sixth shutout of the season with five saves.

Match Statistics
USMMA closed the game with a 19-8 advantage in shots, including a 12-5 edge in shots on goal.

Corner kicks went to the Mariners by a 7-4 margin.

The Knights’ season comes to an end at 9-7-1.

USMMA will travel to top-seeded Manhattanville on Wednesday in the Semifinal Round of the Skyline Championship.