NEWBURGH, N.Y. – A record-breaking season came to an end on Wednesday, as the top-seeded and regular-season champion Mount Saint Mary College men's soccer team (11-5-2) was upset by No. 5 seed St. Joseph's College (L.I.) (10-12) by a score of 4-2 in Wednesday evening's Skyline Conference Championship Semifinal at Kaplan Field. The Golden Eagles advance to the Skyline Finals against No. 6 Purchase College, which will be held at Purchase on Saturday as part of the Second Annual Skyline Conference Fall Festival.
The defending champion Knights will not get a chance to repeat after falling in Wednesday's second-round matchup. The Knights set a program record with eight Skyline wins this year, and complete a four-year stretch in which they won 42 overall games and 23 Skyline contests, both program bests since joining the Skyline Conference in 1994.
Junior forward
Michael Ennis (Carmel, N.Y.) gave the Knights a quick lead, scoring on a 20-yard blast that kicked off the right post and into the net at the 1:52 mark to put the Knights up, 1-0. St. Joe's Justin Heredia fired a shot off a deflection and tied the game in the 20th minute. The Golden Eagles took the lead at 25:33 when Enrique Tirado found the back of the net from in close, but senior forward
Matt Garcia (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) tied the game in the 37th minute off an assist from Ennis to bring the score to 2-2 heading into the break.
Both teams held down their forts for the first 25 minutes of the second half, but the Golden Eagles managed to break through in the 71st minute when Andrew Stasiewicz found a bouncing ball in the box and volleyed it over the Knights' keeper to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. Chris Hall doubled the Golden Eagle lead at 78:03 with a shot from the right wing, putting the game out of reach for the defending champs.
Avery Gomez picked up the victory for St. Joseph's, but did not make a save in the game as the Knights connected on their only two shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper
Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) took the loss after yielding four goals, but made a pair of saves.
The Knights season does not end without many accomplishments. In addition to the previously mentioned records, head coach
Kevin Longacre earned his second Skyline Men's Soccer Coach of the Year award. Garcia completed his second and final year with the Knights, and now holds the program's career goals record with 28. He was named Skyline Player of the Year for his stellar effort in 2014. He is joined by seniors
Chris Marchese (Cold Spring, N.Y.) and
Steve Ehresman (Whitestone, N.Y.) on the All-Skyline First Team. Ennis and Peluso earned their ways onto the All-Skyline Second Team as well.
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@MSMCKnights
