Newburgh, N.Y. – The top two teams in the 2016 Skyline Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll and the top two seeds in the Skyline Conference Championship will meet on Saturday afternoon with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line. The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Soccer team will travel to top-seeded Farmingdale State for a 1:00 p.m. kick-off with Live Stats available for those who cannot attend the game.
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary advanced to its seventh straight conference championship game on Wednesday with a hard fought 1-0 home win over the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Sophomore
Maeve O'Sullivan (Garden City Park, N.Y.) scored the only goal of the game in the 31
st minute and
Mary Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.) made one save in her 23
rd career shutout, tying the career record at the Mount.
Mount Saint Mary has eight players with at least 10 points on the season heading into Saturday's final, with junior
Bridget McKeever (Wallkill, N.Y.) leading the team in goals (9) and points (24). O'Sullivan is second on the team with seven goals and has totaled 18 points through 17 games, while
Destiny Ribadeneyra (Maybrook, N.Y.) holds the team lead in assists with 10 and has produced 20 points.
Through Wednesday's semifinal, McKeever stands fifth in the Skyline Conference in points per game and seventh in overall points and ranks third in the league in goals per game and in a tie for fifth in overall tallies. Ribadeneyra sits in a tie for fifth place in overall assists heading into Saturday's contest and is one helper shy of matching the single season record at the Mount.
Riley is coming off her third blanking of the season and picked up her 23
rd career shutout on Wednesday, tying her with Jacquelyn Mancini for the career record in the category. She has made 60 saves on the season and holds a .690 save percentage for the Knights. Among the conference leaders, she ranks fourth in goals against average and tied for fifth in shutouts.
Scouting Farmingdale State: The Rams had a string of eight straight conference crowns stopped last season, winning eight of the last nine overall. Farmingdale State navigated the conference schedule without a blemish in 2016 and has won each of its last three outings overall, including a 2-0 win over Sage in the other conference semifinal on Wednesday.
A trio of Rams are tied for the team lead in goals, with Erika Anzalone, Destiny Pomarico and Taylor Howard all finding the back of the net seven times heading into Saturday. Pomarico leads the team with 25 points and is tied for the conference lead in assists with 11 helpers on the season.
Defensively, Farmingdale State has allowed only 22 goals and is outscoring it opponents 56-22. Daniella Ford has seen the bulk of time in goal, playing 1,256:36 minutes and holding a 1.29 goals against average while making 54 saves. She leads the conference in 2016 in goals against average.
Recent History: Mount Saint Mary has played Farmingdale State 15 times since the start of the 2007 season, including in each Skyline Conference Championship Final from 2010-14. The Knights had a five match regular season unbeaten streak (4-0-1) stopped with a 5-2 loss on the road in 2016 and has a 4-10-1 overall record against the Rams in its previous 15 meetings.
Championship History: Mount Saint Mary has qualified for the conference championship in 10 straight seasons and has advanced to the championship game every year since 2010. Since the 2007 season, the Mount holds an 8-9-1 record in the championship tournament, advancing to this year's final with a 1-0 semifinal win over Mount Saint Vincent. The Knights and Rams will have met in six of the last seven championship finals, with Farmingdale posting a 5-0 record in the previous five meetings.
What's Next: The winner of Saturday's game with earn the league's berth into the NCAA Tournament with the field set to be announced on Monday afternoon.
