Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team opens the 2017 Skyline Conference Championship on Saturday night when it travels to third seeded USMMA. Live Stats and Video will be available for those who are unable to attend the 7:00 p.m. tilt.
 
At A Glance: The Knights earned their first ever berth into the Skyline Conference Championship in 2017 after winning a program best four conference games. The Knights enter the tilt at 6-9 overall and 4-5 in league play and dropped their final two regular season contests, including a 21-14 road loss to the Mariners on April 19.
 
Mount Saint Mary features eight players with at least 10 goals on the season, including four players who have potted at least 20 goals. Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) leads the team in goals with 44, with Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) adding 38, Nicholas Graziano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) contributing 29 and Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.) chipping in with 21.
 
De Meo has had a standout season for the Knights entering Saturday's contest and holds the team lead in assists with 59 and points with 97. De Meo set the career points record earlier this season and enters the contest with 232 points on the strength of 106 goals and a career record 126 assists.
 
In addition to the career marks, De Meo has broken his own single season points record with 97 entering Saturday to go along with a single season record 59 assists. A strong all-around 2017 season includes 39 groundballs and 22 caused turnovers. De Meo leads the Skyline Conference in assists per game (3.9) and points per game (6.5).
 
Sophomore Peter Beidl (Clifton Park, N.Y.) paces the Knights with 46 groundballs to go along with 22 caused turnovers, while Michael Capetola (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) has scooped 38 groundballs for the Knights. Joseph Timmons (Staten Island, N.Y.) enters Saturday's contest with 12 groundballs and a team-high 99 face-off wins.
 
Junior Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) has turned in a strong season in goal through 15 games, playing 789:10 of a possible 901:33. He has made 164 saves on the season and holds a .474 save percentage. Doerr ranks fourth in the Skyline Conference in saves per game (10.9).
 
A Look At USMMA: The Mariners enter Saturday's game as the third seed with a 10-3 overall record at a 7-2 mark against Skyline Conference rivals. USMMA has won its last three games overall, posting victories over the United States Coast Guard Academy, the Mount and Purchase.
 
The Mariners feature seven players with at least 10 goals on the season, led by 38 from Nick Treon, who also paces the team with 28 assists and 66 points. Pat Coll has potted 36 goals to date for USMMA and enters Saturday's game with 48 points.
 
Chris Whitenack has scooped an impressive 114 groundballs through 13 games and holds a .630 face-off winning percentage with 148 wins. Nick Vinberg leads the way for the Mariners with 12 caused turnovers to go along with 17 groundballs.
 
Dave Ossing has started all 13 games for USMMA in goal thus far, making 84 saves and posting a .485 save percentage. Zac Tilley has seen time in 11 contests and registered 64 saves and a 9.73 goals against average.
 
USMMA enters the game ranked third in the conference in both goals per game (14.3) and points per game (22.1), while Whitenack paces the conference in groundballs per outing (11.4).
 
The Conference Championship: For complete details on the 2017 #SkylineMLAX Championship visit the conference's Championship Central Page.
 
2017 Meeting: The Mariners downed the Knights 21-14 in Kings Point on April 19. De Meo led the Knights with 11 points on five goals and six assists and joined Doerr with a team-high five groundballs. Doerr rounded out the game with 14 stops in goal for the Knights.
 
The Mariners got five goals each from Coll and Mike Morseberger, with Coll leading the way with seven points. Whitenack went a perfect 34-for-34 in face-offs for USMMA and led all players with 26 groundballs. Ossing made three saves in 30 minutes of work, with Tilley coming on to make eight stops.
 
What's Next: The winner of Saturday's contest will advance to the semifinal round of the Championship and will play Wednesday, May 2 at Stockton.