Box Score
 
NEWBURGH, N.Y. (Oct. 30, 2021) – The USMMA men's soccer team went on the road for its Skyline Tournament First Round matchup at Mount St. Mary College and the fifth-seeded Mariners defeated the fourth-seeded Knights by the final score of 6-0. Merchant Marine's record improves to 11-8 on the season, while MSMC ends the year 9-7-1.
 
With the win, the Mariners move on to the Skyline Semifinal Round and will take on top-seeded Manhattanville College (11-4-2) on Wednesday night, Nov. 3, up in Purchase, N.Y.
 
Senior David Kelly (Lutherville, Md.) wasted little time getting the Mariners on the board, as he found the back of the net off a feed by junior Connor Damaré (Slidell, La.) in the fourth minute. But Kelly wasn't finished, as he tallied both of the Mariners' next two goals over the following 20 minutes to record his first career hat-trick. The third came on a penalty kick in the 23rd minute.
 
The Mariners also got a first-half marker from freshman Derek Vanasse (Camarillo, Calif.), assisted by classmate Maximilian Farris (Clayton, Ga.) in the 38th minute, and they took a commanding 4-0 lead into the halftime break.
 
In the second half, senior Cole Blake (Parker, Colo.) made it 5-0 with a 58th-minute tally off a feed from grad student James Roland (Fairfield, Conn.). Then senior defender Luke Sturtz (Norman, Okla.) registered his first career goal off a corner kick by freshman Wesley Cook (Mobile, Ala.) in the 82nd minute to round out the scoring on the afternoon.
 
Junior keeper Chase Miller (Boise, Idaho) made five saves as he recorded his ninth shutout of the season. For the Knights, junior Zach Decker made six stops in the losing effort.
 
The Skyline Tournament Semifinal game up at Manhattanville is schedule for a 7 p.m. this coming Wednesday night. Live stats and a live video feed of the contest will be available with links available on the USMMA Men's Soccer Schedule Page. To view the Skyline Conference's "Championship Central" page, follow this link.
 
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