Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Soccer team begins the 2019 season Saturday afternoon with the first of two games at the Roanoke Invitational in Salem, Va. The Knights tussle with the host Maroons at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Preseason #11 University of Lynchburg on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
 
At A Glance: The Knights are coming off a 2018 season in which they posted a 13-6-2 overall record, an 8-1-0 mark against Skyline Conference rivals and made their ninth consecutive appearance in the Skyline Conference Championship Final. The Mount returns 23 players from last season's squad, including three of its top five point producers and three All-Conference selections.
 
Mount Saint Mary will need to replace its top two goal scorers, but return Gina Rivera (Washingtonville, N.Y.), Chrissy Cannella (Cornwall, N.Y.) and Brittany Bornstad (Linden, N.J.) who combined for 12 goals and 12 assists a season ago.
 
The Mount outscored its opponents 52-19 in 2018, including 41-4 in conference games and finished second in the conference in goals allowed.
 
Forwards: Mount Saint Mary returns four players who saw time up top a season ago, including Rivera who rounded out her sophomore season with 16 points on the strength of six goals and four helpers, tallying a pair of game winning goals.
 
Liz Ellsworth (Suffern, N.Y.) saw time in 11 games as a freshman at both forward and goalkeeper, scoring three times and posting a 0.42 goals against average and three shutouts in just over 430 minutes between the pipes. She was tabbed the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week on twice in 2018.
 
Haley Murphy (Massapequa, N.Y.) returns for her junior campaign after appearing in 14 games in 2018 and totaling six points on two goals and a pair of assists , with sophomore Maggie Zecca (Mountainside, N.J.) returning after posting one assist in 18 contests as a rookie.
 
Midfield: The deepest position group on the roster features 11 returnees, including First Team All-Skyline Conference selections Bornstad and Cannella.  The duo combined for six goals and eight assists in their first seasons with the program.
 
Bornstad, who was also named the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Women's Soccer, led the Mount with six assists in her initial season with the Knights, adding a pair of goals to finish the year as one of six players with at least 10 points. Bornstad was the lone player on last year's squad to start all 21 team games.
 
Cannella joined Bornstad as a First Team All-League selection in her first season as a Knight. She registered 10 points on four goals and a pair of assists for the Mount in 18 games played.
 
Junior Nicky Wurglics (Glendale, N.Y.) played 1,641 minutes for the Knights over 21 games and 19 starts as a sophomore, with classmate Alexa Franceschi (Red Hook, N.Y.) back after five points on two goals and an assist in 20 games played. Junior Ashley Hunter (North Babylon, N.Y.) made an impact in her first season with the Knights in 2018, posting four assists in 21 games.
 
Mount Saint Mary also welcomes back Nikki Carter (Southington, Conn.), Miranda Fennessy (Monroe, N.Y.), Taylor Grella (Glen Cove, N.Y.), Lauren Grippi (East Islip, N.Y.), Jami Dipierdomenico (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) and Shannon O'Donoghue (East Meadow, N.Y.) to the mix in 2019. Carter finished off her rookie season with a pair of tallies for the Knights, while Fennessy assisted on three goals in her sophomore season.
 
Newcomers Lauren Engel (Red Hook, N.Y.) and Julia Accetura (Prospect, Conn.) will look to make an impact in 2019 during their first seasons with the Mount.
 
Defense: The Mount Saint Mary defensive corps returns seven players from a squad that allowed under one goal per game in 2019. The Knights will need to replace Emma Costa and Claire Newman who were lost to graduation following the 2018 season. Costa was a Second Team All-Conference pick for the Knights, while Newman started 17 games and finished with 10 points.
 
Sophomore Julia DeSantis (Islip, N.Y.), who will also see time up front, was a Second Team All-League pick as a freshman and rounded out a stellar rookie season with four goals in 19 games. She finished the season tied for the team lead with a trio of game winning tallies for the Knights.
 
Julie Roethel (Monroe, N.Y.) returns for her second season with the Mount after scoring one goal in 2018 and is joined on the back line by returnees Maeve Ward (Warwick, N.Y.), Allie Salamone (Sound Beach, N.Y.), Jackie Lindsay (Baldwin, N.Y.), Sharon Pena (Harrison, N.Y.) and KellyAnn Platt (Staten Island, N.Y.). Salamone tallied twice for the Mount a season ago in 17 games, with Platt adding a goal in 15 contests.
 
A talented group of newcomers enters the fold in 2019 with Krista Gross (East Northport, N.Y.), Bella Piacentini (Wolcott, Conn.) and Marilena Mangiaracina (Franklin Square, N.Y.) looking to add depth to a strong returning corp.
 
Goalkeepers: Junior Cassidy Rykowski (Sloatsburg, N.Y.) is back after putting together a strong season in 2018. Rykowski made 15 starts for the Knights, playing a team-high 1,452:33 in goal. She posted a 10-4 record with a 1.05 goals against average while making 45 saves.
 
Joining the goalkeeper group in 2019 is junior college transfer Cyan Scott (Buena Park, Calif.). Scott was a member an Arizona Western team that won its conference championship and was a Second Team All-League performer.
 
Head Coach: Christopher Lyn embarks on his fourth season on the bench for the Knights and has put together a three-year record of 39-14-4 overall and a 24-3-0 mark against league rivals. The Knights won the Skyline Conference regular season crown in 2017 with Lyn named the league's Coach of the Year.
 
The Schedule: Following a challenging weekend, the Mount will play consecutive home games when it hosts Yeshiva on September 6 and Ithaca on September 7. Other non-conference home games of note include Union on September 14, Hartwick on September 25 and Preseason #5 William Smith on October 27. In addition to Yeshiva, the conference home schedule includes the College of Mount Saint Vincent (10/5), Manhattanville (10/19), Preseason #21 Farmingdale State (10/24) and St. Joseph's-L.I. (10/30). The conference championship gets underway on November 2 and concludes with championship final on November 9.