NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Bracket
Tournament Central

Mount Saint Mary Roster        |   York (Pa.) Roster
Mount Saint Mary Schedule   |   York (Pa.) Schedule
Mount Saint Mary Statistics    |   York (Pa.) Statistics

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's soccer team, this year's Skyline Conference Men's Soccer Champion, makes its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Tournament tomorrow, Nov. 16, against nationally ranked No. 9 York College of Pennsylvania at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.

The Knights earned the Skyline's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament after defeating Farmingdale State College, 2-1, on Saturday in the conference finals for the first Skyline title in program history. The Knights currently hold a 12-4-3 overall record, which stands as the most wins in a single season for the Knights since 1993 and is one shy of the program record.

York earned the Capital Athletic Conference's (CAC) automatic bid into the Tournament after coming out victorious in the CAC finals for the fifth-straight season. The Spartans defeated currently ranked No. 15 Salisbury University in the CAC finals, 1-0, to capture the title once again. However, it is very likely that the Spartans would have received an at-large bid into the tournament after posting a 17-2-1overall record thus far.

Junior forward Matt Garcia (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) leads a Knight attack that currently ranks third in the nation with 3.32 goals per game. Garcia's 42 points and 17 goals were a conference-best this season, and his 2.21 points per game rank 10th in the country. Following with 11 goals is the hero of Saturday's Skyline final, senior midfielder Michael Ennis (Carmel, N.Y.). Ennis scored the game-winning goal with 57 seconds remaining in regulation on Saturday to get the Knights to this point.

Senior midfielders Brandon Mincher (Bayport, N.Y.) and Sean Lockwood (Manahawkin, N.J.) lead the Knights with 12 and 10 assists, respectively. Mincher ranks ninth in Division III with .63 assists per game, while Lockwood ranks 11th with .59 per game. Mincher adds seven goals to his season transcript, while Lockwood had six shots find the back of the net.

Defensively, the Knights were one of the strongest teams in the conference. Senior goalkeeper Matt Darling (Staatsburg, N.Y.) ranks 31st in all of Division III with a .845 save percentage. Leading the backfield for the Knights is senior defender Rob Thompson (West Babylon, N.Y.) who, along with solid defensive play all season, added four goals for the team.

While York does not rank in the top 50 in scoring offense, the Spartans are ninth in Division III in goals against average, allowing a miniscule .49 goals per game. Starting goalkeeper Brad Schmidt holds a save percentage of .839 and ranks 14th in the nation with a .548 goals against average.

The Spartan offensive front is led by Jake Hower, whose seven goals and seven assists give him a team-leading 21 points. Brendan Saberton matched Hower with seven goals this season. Chris Weaver leads the Spartans with eight assists on the year.

The Spartans have defeated a wealth of tough teams this season, but no win was more impressive than York's 1-0 victory over defending national champion Messiah College on Sept. 24. That was Messiah's only loss this season, as the No. 4-ranked Falcons currently hold an 18-1-1 overall record.

Saturday's matchup pits one of the top scoring teams in the nation against one of the best defensive squads. The Knights will need to find a way to break through the Spartans' defensive wall without sacrificing defense to get past York and into the second round of the tournament.