Newburgh, N.Y. – Coming down the stretch of the 2017 regular season, the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Soccer team will play host to nationally ranked Amherst on Wednesday night at 7:30 before traveling to Skyline Conference rival St. Joseph's-L.I. for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Golden Eagles at Noon.
At A Glance: The Knights enter Wednesday's game with Amherst at 8-6 overall and are coming off a 2-0 road win at Farmingdale State on Saturday. Juniors
Joey Dolan (New Paltz, N.Y.) and
Matt Fuge (Avon, Conn.) scored for the Knights, with Dolan setting the program's career goal record with his 29
th tally.
Dolan leads the Knights with 13 goals, including six game winners, and 27 points through 14 games. Fuge is second on the team with three tallies with
Fred Stark (Hollis, N.Y.) and
Joseph Sadofsky (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) each finding the back of the net twice heading into Wednesday. Stark is the team leader in assists with four and is second on the squad with eight points.
Dolan stands second in the Skyline Conference in both goals and points and is the league leader in game winning tallies. Stark sits in a tie for seventh in the conference in assists to begin the week.
A pair of goalies have seen the bulk of action for the Knights through 14 contests, with
Tyler Rapp (East Berne, N.Y.) appearing in 10 games and posting a .769 save percentage and a 0.85 goals against average to go along with three shutouts in 632:19 of action. Classmate
Jakup Myrtja (Newburgh, N.Y.) has started eight games and has stopped 36 shots and added one clean sheet for the Knights.
Weekly Honors: The Knights swept the Skyline Conference Weekly Awards on Monday with Stark earning Player of the Week honors and Rapp garnering Rookie of the Week accolades. Stark scored the game winning goal in double overtime against Maritime on Wednesday and assisted on Dolan's game winner at Farmingdale State, while Rapp posted a pair of shutouts in an unbeaten week for the Mount.
Scouting Amherst: Amherst comes to town ranked #15 in Tuesday's United Soccer Coaches Poll and #16 in the D3Soccer.com poll. Amherst enters Wednesday's tilt at 7-2-2 overall after splitting a pair of NESCAC games last weekend, falling at Colby 2-1 before topping Bates by the same 2-1 tally.
Amherst, who has allowed just eight goals on the season, is outscoring its opponents 18-8 through 11 contests. Weller Hlinomaz leads the scoring attack with three goals and six points, while Jimmy McMillian and Sebastian Derby are tied for the team lead in assists with two. McMillian joins Hlinomza atop the team leaderboard in points with six, adding a pair of goals to his assist total.
Three goalkeepers have played at least 200 minutes for Amherst entering Wednesday, with Kofi Hope-Gund leading the way with 561:33. He holds a 0.32 goals against average and a .941 save percentage while stopping 32 shots.
A Look At The Golden Eagles: St. Joseph's enters a non-conference game with Stockton on Wednesday at 6-5-1 overall on the season and 6-0-1 in league play, a single point ahead of the Mount in the conference standings. The Golden Eagles have won their last four outings and are unbeaten in their last seven contests heading into Wednesday's battle with the Ospreys.
St. Joseph's offensive attack is led by Rayneri Ruiz who has potted 10 goals and totaled 23 points through 12 contests. Ruiz enters Wednesday third in the Skyline Conference in both categories. Damien Duda has amassed 11 points on the strength of a team-high five assists to go along with three markers.
Steven Deng has played 736:26 of a possible 1,110:53 in goal for St. Joseph's and has made 40 saves leading to a .769 save percentage and a 1.47 goals against average.
What's Next: Mount Saint Mary closes out the regular season on October 25 when it plays host to Purchase. Kick-off with the Panthers is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
