Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Soccer team begins play in the 2019 Skyline Conference Championship on Wednesday afternoon when it welcomes fourth seed Manhattanville to Kaplan Field for a semifinal round matchup. Kick-off with the Valiants is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with Live Stats and Video available for those unable to attend.
 
At A Glance: The Mount enters Wednesday's semifinal as the top seed after completing the regular season with a 9-9-1 overall record and an unbeaten 9-0-1 mark in conference play. The Knights went 7-1-1 in their final nine regular season contests, including a 3-0 win over St. Joseph's-L.I. in the regular season finale to wrap up the top spot in the championship.
 
Senior Chrissy Cannella (Cornwall, N.Y.) leads the offensive attack for the Mount with 18 goals and 39 points, while Gina Rivera (Washingtonville, N.Y.) checks in with six tallies and 14 points. Sophomore Nikki Carter (Southington, Conn.) is in the midst of a strong season, entering Wednesday's semifinal with 10 points on the strength of three goals and four assists. The trio atop the team leaderboard in points have combined for seven of the team's nine game winning goals, with Cannella potting four, Carter adding two and Rivera scoring one.
 
In all, the Mount has had 19 different players find the scoring column to date, with nine players totaling at least two tallies. Carter, Haley Murphy (Massapequa, N.Y.), Lauren Engel (Red Hook, N.Y.), Maeve Ward (Warwick, N.Y.), Julie Roethel (Monroe, N.Y.) and KellyAnn Platt (Staten Island, N.Y.) have all scored three times, with Maggie Zecca (Mountainside, N.J.) adding two goals.
 
Junior Brittany Bornstad (Linden, N.J.) leads the team with six assists, totaling eight points, with Carter sitting second on the team in helpers with her four. Cannella and Murphy have each helped on three markers, while Rivera, Liz Ellsworth (Suffern, N.Y.) and Nicky Wurglics (Glendale, N.Y.) have each helped on a pair of tallies.
 
The Mount defense has allowed only two goals to Skyline Conference opponents on the season and has not allowed more than one goal in a game to conference rivals. Overall, the Mount is fourth in the conference in goals allowed, allowing just under two per game, and fourth in goals scored, averaging just shy of three markers per outing.
 
Junior Cyan Scott (Buena Park, Calif.) has seen the bulk of action in goal for the Mount, starting 17 games and playing 1,550:00 of a possible 1,730:00. She has made 61 saves to date and holds a 1.63 goals against average and a .685 save percentage to go along with eight shutouts. Against conference opponents, Scott holds a 0.20 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.
 
Last Time Out: The Mount wrapped up the regular season with a 3-0 home win over St. Joseph's-L.I. on October 30. Rivera scored twice in the game, including the game winner in the 30^th minute, with junior Alexa Francesci (Red Hook, N.Y.) converting a penalty kick in the second half for her first tally of the season.
 
Scott earned the shutout, making just one stop, as the Mount finished the game with a 20-2 advantage in shots, a 9-1 edge in shots on goal, and a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Viewing The Valiants: Fourth seed Manhattanville is coming off a 2-1 win over St. Joseph's-L.I. in the First Round of the Championship on Saturday. Natalie Aracena scored her 13^th goal of the season in the 29^th minute and Brigid Sullivan tallied her seventh of the year, the eventual game winner, in the 84^th minute to move the Valiants to semifinal and improve their overall record to 10-9.
 
Manhattanville features a balanced scoring attack that sees Aracena and Ashley Pacheco tied for the team lead in goals with 13. Amaya Gonzalez has potted 11 goals to date and the trio are three of five players with at least 20 points on the season.
 
Pacheco leads the team with 36 points, adding 10 assists to her goal total, with Aracena and Gonzalez checking in with 28 and 26 respectively. Ashley Hayes has assisted on a team-high 13 goals and has 23 points to date, while Samira Davis has 22 points on the strength of seven goals and eight assists.
 
In goal, Alexa Pyatsky has seen the bulk of time, making 12 starts and playing 1,260:00 of a possible 1,710:00. She has stopped 54 opponent shots and holds a 2.50 goals against average and a .607 save percentage.
 
Regular Season Meeting: After a scoreless first half on October 19, the Mount put away three goals in just under 30 minutes to pull away for a 3-0 victory. Cannella scored all three goals, posting her third hat trick of the season, including the game winner on a penalty kick in the 48^th minute.
 
Scott posted the shutout with a trio of saves for the Mount, as the Knights finished with the advantage in shots 11-4, shots on goal 6-3 and corner kicks 7-1.
 
What's At Stake: The winner of Wednesday's semifinal will advance to the Skyline Conference Championship Final on Saturday to take on the winner of the Farmingdale State and Sarah Lawrence semifinal winner.