NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Junior midfielder
Melissa Guillemette (Branford, Conn.) tallied her first career hat trick, leading the second-seeded Mount Saint Mary College women's soccer team (14-4-1) past No. 3 The Sage Colleges (11-5-2) by a score of 6-0 in Wednesday evening's Skyline Conference Championship Semifinal matchup at Kaplan Field. The Knights advance to Saturday's championship game at the Second Annual Skyline Conference Fall Festival, hosted by Purchase College, where they will take on No. 1 Farmingdale State College at 11 a.m.
Guillemette managed to beat the keeper after finding a through ball from senior forward
Marissa Segreto (West Islip, N.Y.) just 63 seconds into the game to give the Knights a quick 1-0 lead. She also tallied the Knights' fifth and sixth goals in the 29th and 58th minutes, respectively. Her hat trick doubles her season total. She also dished out an assist on the Knights' second goal for a seven-point game.
Segreto was the beneficiary of Guillemette's assist in the third minute, taking a perfect setup off her chest for an easy score. She improved her scoring streak to seven games with the goal, and has totaled 10 goals across that stretch.
Senior forward
Nicole Gianotti (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) was set up nicely on the close-left wing by senior midfielder
Renee Schultz (Waldwick, N.J.) in the 13th minute, allowing her to fling a shot over the keeper and into the net to put the Knights up, 3-0. Freshman defender
Allison Jones (Merrick, N.Y.) got in on the action with a blast from beyond the box that got over the keeper, went off the crossbar and across the line to put the Knights up, 4-0, at 17:48. Segreto assisted Jones' netter to reach four points on the evening.
Guillemette got her second goal 11 minutes later after freshman defender
Destiny Ribadeneyra (Maybrook, N.Y.) made a number of fancy moves to get past multiple defenders for an easy feed to Guillemette. Schultz added her second assist of the evening on Guillemette's final goal at 57:33.
Freshman goalkeeper
Mary Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.) held tight in the net to pick up her ninth shutout and 14th victory of the season. She needed to make just one save after a stellar defensive effort by the Knights' back line. She now stands one shutout shy of the program single-season record.
Sage's Teagan Waddingham suffered the loss, allowing six goals and stopping seven shots.
The Knights controlled the ball for the far majority of the game. They outshot the Gators, 21-4, including a shots-on-goal differential of 13-1. Both teams were even with one corner kick apiece.
The Knights advance to the Skyline Conference Championship Finals for the fifth straight season, and will play the seven-time defending champion Farmingdale State once again. The Knights and Rams played to a 1-1 draw back on Oct. 18 at Farmingdale. The women's soccer championship will open Saturday's Fall Festival, kicking off at 11 a.m. from Purchase College's turf field. The Knights are looking to earn their first-ever Skyline Title and first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
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