Newburgh, N.Y. – The top two seeds in the 2017 Skyline Conference Championship will square-off in Newburgh on Saturday afternoon for the right to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. Top-seeded Mount Saint Mary College and second seeded Farmingdale State will kick-off at 12:00 p.m. in the Skyline Conference Championship Final with Live Stats available for those who cannot attend the contest.
 
At A Glance: The Knights advanced to their eighth straight championship final after slipping past St. Joseph's-L.I. on penalty kicks Wednesday evening. The two sides played to a scoreless draw before the Mount moved on 3-2 in penalties.
 
The Mount enters Saturday's final with a 15-3-2 overall record and earned the top seed in the conference championship after going unbeaten in nine league contests. The Knights are unbeaten in their last three outings, including a tight 2-1 win over Farmingdale State in the regular season finale.
 
Mount Saint Mary features  a trio of seniors that lead scoring attack in Destiny Ribadeneyra (Maybrook, N.Y.), Bridget McKeever (Wallkill, N.Y.) and Allison Jones (Merrick, N.Y.). Ribadeneyra leads the team in goals (20), assists (14) and points (54) and is followed by McKeever who has scored 16 times, assisted on 11 goals and totaled 43 points. Jones enters Saturday's contest with 25 points for the Knights on the strength of 10 goals and five helpers.
 
Freshman Haley Murphy (Massapequa, N.Y.), the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week on October 16, has scored six times for the Mount with Mary Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.), Jessica Lanning (Hicksville, N.Y.), Alexa Franceschi (Red Hook, N.Y.) and Nicole Cavallo (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) all entering the conference championship with five markers. Cavallo recorded the game winning goal in the Knights' last outing against Farmingdale State.
 
 
The Knights lead the conference in scoring average, opponent scoring average and scoring margin as a team with Ribadeneyra leading the league in assists and ranking second in the conference in both goals and points.
Riley posted her seventh shutout of the season on Wednesday and made a big save in the third round of the shootout to help the Knights advance. She enters Saturday's contest with a 0.91 goals against average and an .810 save percentage, making 64 stops on the season. She leads the Skyline Conference in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts.
 
Last Time Out: The Knights played fourth seeded St., Joseph's-L.I. to a scoreless draw despite out shooting the Golden Eagles 23-6. Ribadeneyra, Gina Rivera (Washingtonville, N.Y.) and McKeever scored in the shootout and Riley made a save in the third round as the Mount advanced to the final 3-2 in penalties.
 
Scouting Farmingdale State: The Rams come back to Newburgh for the second time in 10 days on Saturday with a 12-7-2 overall record. Farmingdale State dropped its last two regular season contests before rebounding for a 3-0 semifinal win over the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Wednesday.
 
Following a scoreless first half, the Rams got a Taylor Howard goal early in the second frame for the eventual game winner and added insurance goals in the 53^rd and 79^th minutes to get back into the final for the second straight year. The Rams have won nine of the last 10 conference crowns, including a stretch of eight straight from 2007-14.
 
Howard paces the offense for the Rams with 14 goals and 29 points, with Edasia Martinez supporting the attack with seven goals and 18 points. Miranda Ozimek leads the way with seven assists and enters Saturday's tilt with 19 points.
 
In goal, Daniela Ford has started 19 times for Farmingdale State and holds a 0.98 goals against average and a .809 save percentage while making 76 stops. Ford is second in the conference behind Riley in save percentage and goals against average.
 
Regular Season Matchup: The Knights and Rams met in Newburgh on October 25, with both entering the contest unbeaten in conference play. After Farmingdale State jumped in front on an early goal, Ribadeneyra and Cavallo scored second half goals for the Knights for a hard fought 2-1 win. Riley finished the game with save saves in the win.
 
Championship History: The Mount has advanced to the Skyline Conference Championship Final for the eighth straight season and will face Farmingdale State in the final for the seventh time since 2010. The Rams have beaten the Knights in each of the previous six meetings, including three times in Newburgh.
 
What's At Stake: The winner of Saturday's final will represent the Skyline Conference in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.