Men's Soccer Tops Mt. St. Vincent, 2-1, to Advance to Skyline Semi's

Riverdale, N.Y. – Fifth-seed St. Joseph's (9-12) battled four–seed College of Mount Saint Vincent (9-10) in a hard fought, physical game and came out the victors in the first round of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament, 2-1.  First half goals by Chris Hall and Alex Guadagno gave SJC all the offensive firepower they needed to advance the Golden Eagles to the semifinal round against top-seed M. St. Mary College (11-4-2) this Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. in Newburgh, N.Y.

Getting hot at just the right time of the year, St. Joseph's has won three games in a row and five of their last six.  Their only loss in that span had been against today's opponent.  The Golden Eagles handed Mt. St. Mary their first and only Skyline loss, 3-1, just a few weeks ago in Newburgh and look to repeat that feat.  In 2013, SJC took the regular season match from the Knights, but fell to them in the Skyline Conference Tournament to end the season.

Making its first ever appearance in the Skyline Tournament today, the College of Mount Saint Vincent got off to a great start when Kevin Jardines got the Dolphins on the board first.  Jardines took a pass from Andrew Gomez inside the box and tucked a shot inside of the right post to give the home team a 1-0 lead just 1:54 into the game.
 
The Dolphins would maintain their one goal advantage until the Golden Eagles netted two goals in a six-minute stretch to pull in front in the middle stages of the first half. Senior Chris Hall knotted the score 1-1 at 17:24 when he finished off a pass from junior Gaetano Innamorato. It was Hall's fourth goal of the season.
 
St. Joseph's would get the eventual game-winning goal in the 24th minute when junior Alex Guadagno tallied his fourth of the season at 23:27. He netted the game-winner off a passing play from junior Enrique Tirado and sophomore Brian O'Sullivan to give the visitors the lead for good in the game.
 
In a tightly contested first half, St. Joseph's held an 8-5 advantage in shots, while the Mount took all three corner kicks. Both SJC's sophomore keeper Avery Gomez and CMSV's David Melchor made their two saves in the first half.
 
Neither team would find the back of the net after halftime, but both squads had chances. St. Joseph's had a shot blocked inside the box early in the second half and a CMSV header hit the post with just under seven minutes left in regulation.
 
Mount Saint Vincent outshot St. Joseph's 7-2 after halftime and 12-10 in the game. The Dolphins also finished the game with a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks and fouls in the game were called against the Golden Eagles 11-10.