STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The struggles continued for the Mount Saint Mary College men's soccer team as they lost another well-played game, this time a Skyline Conference contest to the Polytechnic Institute of NYU by a score of 2-1.  The Knights are now 0-11-2 overall and 0-4-2 in the conference, while the Blue Jays are 9-3-1 overall (3-2-0 Skyline).

NYU-Poly freshmen Marcelo Escudero (Maywood, N.J.) tallied the game-winner in the 77th minute and assisted on a first half score by sophomore Mamadou DIanko (Dakar, Senegal) to lead his team to the victory - one that now insures the Jays of the first winning season in program history.

The Jays took the early lead in the 3rd minute when Escudero slotted a pass to Dianko who calmly finished his shot past Knights freshman goalkeeper Matthew Darling (Staatsburg, N.Y.).  Despite out-playing Mount Saint Mary in the first half, the Jays could not muster the second goal, as freshmen Efe Kaynar (Midwood, N.Y.) missed on a breakaway and Escudero had a crack from 18 that was saved by Darling.

The Mount tied the game just seven minutes into the second half when freshmen keeper Michael Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) misjudged a cross.  The ball rolled across the goal mouth and Mount sophomore Ryan Folken (Centereach, N.Y.) was there waiting for the easy finish.

For the next 10 minutes, the Knights played like a team determined to keep its playoff chances alive.  But sophomore midfielder Sal Devito (Pequannock, N.J.) would turn the tide for the Jays, as he barreled through three Mount defenders, beating them all and ripping a shot that was saved by Darling.  Two minutes later, sophomore Allen Rohr (Northridge, Calif.) would find Escudero who lifted a 15-yard shot over the keeper as he came off his line.

"Sal's effort today really picked us up. We were struggling to find any rhythm and his play sparked us", said head coach Nate Kalin. "Mount Saint Mary is a quality team. Their record doesn't reflect their ability. I think we scored too early and got too comfortable."

The Jays outshot the Knights 19-15 and 9-7 on goal.  Corners were in favor of NYU-Poly 6-4.  Hall made six stops while Darling made seven.

Mount Saint Mary travels to Purchase College on Wednesday, October 13 for their next scheduled contest.  The game is set for 7:00 p.m.