Newburgh, N.Y. – Freshman Tyler Rapp (East Berne, N.Y.) posted his fifth shutout of the season and classmate Joseph Mesoraca (Oceanside, N.Y.) scored his second game winning goal of the year as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Soccer team secured the top seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship on Wednesday with a tight 1-0 win over visiting Purchase.
 
The only goal of the game came in the middle stages of the first half on a restart for the Knights. Connor Lynch (Clifton Park, N.Y.) played a free-kick into the box where Mesoraca headed the ball into the back of the net for the only marker of the tilt.
 
The goal came on one of just three shots for the Knights in the first half and one of just eight in the game. The Knights finished the contest with a slim 8-7 edge in shots, but a 7-2 advantage in shots on target. Corner kicks on the night went to Purchase by a 7-1 margin.
 
Mesoraca's goal was the second of the season, with both deciding games for the Knights. He joined Matt Fuge (Avon, Conn.) with two shots in the game for the Mount, with Joey Dolan (New Paltz, N.Y.) leading the team in the category with three. Lynch picked up his fourth assists of the season, tying him for the team lead in helpers.
 
Rapp continued his strong rookie campaign with a pair of saves in his fifth clean sheet of the season. He lowered his goals against average to 0.66 and raised his save percentage to .833. He currently leads the conference in goals against average and is tied for the most shutouts in the league.
 
Purchase received three shots from Kayode Tyler and got six saves in goal from Jordan Meade, who has made a Skyline Conference best 107 stops on the season.
 
At 10-7 overall and 8-1 in conference, Mount Saint Mary will play the winner of the Old Westbury, Maritime First Round game on November 1 at 7:00 p.m.