NEWBURGH, N.Y. -  Mount Saint Mary College sophomore Sara Sheehan (Wappingers, N.Y.) scored a breakaway goal in the 75th minute of play to break a 0-0 deadlock and propel the Knights to a 1-0 victory over St. Joseph's College in Wednesday's Skyline semifinal. The Knights improve to 17-2-1 on the season with the win and advance to their second consecutive Skyline championship game. The Golden Eagles conclude their season with an overall record on 10-9-1.

Both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the opening minutes of the half and the game looked like it was shaping up to be a defensive battle. In the 23rd minute of play, the Golden Eagles played a ball behind the Mount's defensive unit to open up a dangerous scoring opportunity. The ball wound up in the back of the net, but the goal was quickly waved off because St. Joseph's College was offsides. The score remained scoreless going into halftime and both teams combined for only four shots in the first half.

In the opening fifteen minutes of the second half, the Golden Eagles used short, direct passes to open up the field in their favor. On back to back scoring opportunities, St. Joseph's College freshman Sarah Hansen and sophomore Samantha Garcia both took shots that veered just wide of the net. Sheehan ripped a shot in the 73rd minute that helped the Knights find their offensive flow. Just two minutes later, Sheehan collected the ball near midfield and played it ahead to teammate freshman Kelly Cirimello (Centereach, N.Y.), who then touched the ball back to Sheehan. Streaking down the left side of the field, Sheehan beat all defenders and placed a shot to the far post past Golden Eagles goalkeeper senior Michelle Gulino to put the Knights on top 1-0.

In the 77th minute the Knights almost increased their lead when a shot by Mount sophomore Allie Kleine (Vernon, N.J.) ricocheted off the crossbar to the feet of Mount freshman Vanessa DiSilvio (Massapequa, N.Y.), who then redirected the ball back towards the net. DiSilvio's shot was blocked by a defender and Kleine collected the rebound and sent the ball back in play just right of the goal.

The Knights held a 9-3 advantage in shots in the second half of play, after being limited to just two shots in the first half. Mount goalkeeper sophomore Jacquelyn Mancini (Valley Stream, N.Y.) tallied two saves en route to her tenth shutout of the year. Gulino, the St. Joseph's College goalkeeper, totaled five saves in the loss.

The first-seeded Knights will host the second-seeded Farmingdale State College Rams in the Skyline championship game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.