Box Score NEWBURGH, New York - A goal from junior Andy Espinoza (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) midway through the second half brought the Blue Knights to within one, but an equalizer could not be found down the stretch as SUNY Maritime went on to a 2-1 Skyline Conference victory over Mount Saint Mary College.
Maritime dominated the early stages of each half, scoring a goal within the first three minutes of each stanza. At 2:25 of the first half, freshman Patrick Masango (Baltimore, MD/Phs Kumba) (Baltimore, Md.) dribbled to the right edge of the eighteen yard box and played a beautiful ball over a defender to the far post. Junior Mayer Nelson (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) streaked past another defender and headed the cross past the keeper to give Maritime an early lead.
Following a scoreless finish to the first half, Maritime came out of the gates in the second half and scored right away. This time, Nelson captured a deflected ball a yard inside of the box, just before the arrival of the Mount's goalkeeper. After winning the ball from the keeper, Nelson hit the empty net for a 2-0 Maritime lead.
The Blue Knights finally got on the board in the 68th minute as Espinoza fired a shot from the eighteen past a diving keeper. Junior Jon Gasiewski (New Milford, Conn.) made a great effort on the play to win the ball from two defenders and eventually pass it to Espinoza.
With both team firing shots at the first opportunity for much of the evening, the Privateers wound up out-shooting the Blue Knights 26-17. Both goalkeepers were busy, senior Matt Kavanaugh (Penfield, NY/Penfield) (Penfield, N.Y.) making ten saves, and the tandem of keepers for the Blue Knights finishing with eleven saves. Sophomore Paul Aries (Nashua, N.H.) took the loss for the Mount.
Two games into the Skyline Conference season, the Mount now finds themselves in somewhat of a hole at 0-2. Overall, the Blue Knights are now 2-6 and will face Elmira College on Wednesday before jumping back into Skyline play with a trip to Farmingdale this weekend. Maritime improved to 6-3 overall and sit tied for the Skyline lead at 2-0. Maritime will take the field again on October 3rd at New Jersey City University.
