NEWBURGH, NY – In a crucial match for Skyline Conference positioning, the Purchase College men's tennis team edged Mount Saint Mary College on Friday night by a score of 5-4. The Blue Knights fell to 4-6 overall and to 2-4 in the Skyline while the Panthers improved to 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

The Mount had a chance to sweep the doubles matches and take control of the match, but a tiebreaker at second doubles went the way of the Panthers and the Blue Knights had to settle for a 2-1 advantage. Freshman Zach Conlon (Huntington, N.Y.) and freshman Mike McNicholas (Milton, N.Y.) made a nice comeback from 3-6 to force the tiebreaker but lost, 7-2. Senior Joe Meilak (Greenville, N.Y.) and freshman Tom Curran (Washingtonville, N.Y.) teamed for an 8-5 win at first doubles. Juniors Danny Godfrey (West Babylon, N.Y.) and Ian Jackson (Washington, N.J.) paired for an 8-5 win in the third doubles position.

Meilak continued his winning streak, now at nine straight matches, with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 victory at number three singles. Curran made it competitive in the second set after losing the first, but still lost, 6-0, 7-5 at number one. Jackson was the next player to finish, and his 6-3, 7-5 victory gave the Blue Knights their fourth point of the night.

Needing all three remaining matches to capture the match, Purchase picked up their third point at fourth singles where Conlon dropped a highly competitive match (7-5, 6-2). Godfrey rallied at number two to force a third set, but again, it was Purchase who prevailed (6-0, 4-6, 6-4). Now with the match tied at four, it came down to fifth singles. Mount Saint Mary junior John Como (Wingdale, N.Y.) gave it an excellent effort before falling in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-2).

Up next for the Mount is their regular season finale against Polytechnic on Sunday, April 26. The match is scheduled for a noon start. For the Blue Knights to have any shot at making the conference tournament, they'll need a win on Sunday and some help from other teams in the conference.