Newburgh, N.Y. – Isaac Vargas' 83rd minute goal lifted the Knights to a 2-1 win over St. Joseph's-Long Island Saturday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: Mount Saint Mary 2, St. Joseph's-Long Island, 1
Records: Mount Saint Mary (1-5-0, 1-0-0) | St. Joseph's-Long Island (0-3-2, 0-1-1)
The Mount Saint Mary Knights took on the St. Joseph's-Long Island Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon in their first Skyline Conference game of the season. Both teams came into the game seeking their first win of the season, and the two teams dueled it out in an exciting game at Kaplan Field. The Golden Eagles would strike first early, turning a set piece into an 8th minute goal off the foot of senior Liam McDermott. Despite the Knights' early stumble, freshman goalkeeper Landon Mabe would hunker down the rest of the way, making three saves in the game. St. Joseph's-Long Island would ride that 1-0 lead for half an hour until Knights freshman Isaiah de la Espriella buried the equalizer in the 41st minute. The goal, the first of de la Espriella's career, was a beauty. Freshman Guilherme Martins fed de la Espriella a centering pass across the box for his first career assist. The game would head into halftime tied, 1-1.
The second half began as an intense yet scoreless affair, and the score remained 1-1 until the 83rd minute. In that 83rd minute, a great hustle play by junior Jeremy Burgos would kickstart a chain of events that culminated in a go-ahead goal for the Knights. Burgos worked his way through three Golden Eagles defenders to chase down a cleared ball, and held off the St. Joseph's-Long Island defense long enough to wait for numbers. Once the cavalry had arrived, Burgos passed it off to sophomore TJ Mark, who dished it to the open man in freshman Isaac Vargas. Vargas, who scored his first career goal in last Saturday's loss, fired home his second goal in as many games to give the Knights a late 2-1 lead. Burgos and Mark earned assists on the play, and the Knights rode the momentum all the way to the finish line to earn their first win of the season in their first conference game.
The Knights look to make it two conference wins in a row on Wednesday night, when they will play at St. Joseph's-Brooklyn at 4:00 pm.
Notes and Numbers
For continuing coverage of Mount Saint Mary College Athletics, visit msmcknights.com and follow the Knights on TikTok, Twitter (X), Instagram, and YouTube.
