Women's Soccer Earns Program's First Skyline Championship with 2-1 Victory Over Mount St. Mary

Written by Joshua Soto (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Newburgh, NY| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) women's soccer team took down the second-seeded Mount St. Mary Knights 2-1 on Saturday afternoon to win the Skyline Conference Championship for the first time in program history.

The two teams had an ongoing battle for possession early on in the first half before the Knights took control of the game in the 10th minute. Alaina Neddermann went streaking down the right side to draw the defenders towards her, before delivering a cross to Melissa Guillemette, who finished to give Mount St. Mary the 1-0 lead.

Chelsea Bellini quickly answered in the 15th minute, when she took matters into her own hands, swaying her way through defenders to score the equalizer for the Golden Eagles. 

SJC continued to pressure the Knights, winning a corner in the 18th minute. Kristin Carroll, who took the corner, curled the ball into the box for Lauren Heschl, who headed a ball toward goal that was parried by a Mt. St. Mary defender to preserve the lead.

The two sides would enter halftime deadlocked at one, but the Knights started off the half pressuring the Golden Eagle defense, creating numerous scoring opportunities for themselves.  The Knights were awarded the first corner of the half in the 47th minute, but Maeve O'Sullivan header attempt missed just high of the goal. 

In the 56th minute Claire Brady saw an opportunity to score when she found herself one-on-one with Riley, who slid at the forward to thwart the opportunity.

The physical play continued, and in the 68th minute SJC was awarded another free kick just outside the opposition's box. Murino took the free kick, but curled it into the hands of the keeper.

Shortly thereafter the Golden Eagles finally found their breakthrough, when Jessica Cordano broke free of the defense and played a ball to a cutting Bellini, slotted a ball upper-90 to life the guests into the lead in the 74th minute.

Mount St. Mary started to push numbers up field in search of a equalizer, but the SJC defense proved too tough to crack and time eventually expired.

The Golden Eagles outshot the Knights on the afternoon by a 9-6 tally in a game in which keeper Katie McGarrell was forced into making just one save. 

For her efforts on the field Bellini was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The junior tallied three goals for six points in three matches.

Additionally, Cordano etched her name in the SJC record book, as she became the SJC games-played leader (84). 

In his first season leading the Golden Eagles, head coach Nic DeZenzo delivers St. Joseph's its first Skyline title. Mt. St. Mary finishes runner-up for the sixth-straight season.

With the win, the team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament, which is set to begin on Saturday, November 14.