10/4/2006 - (Valhalla, NY) – For the second straight season, Mount Saint Vincent had the game at hand. They out-shot, out-possessed, and outworked Skyline Conference rival Maritime College, and had an overwhelming majority of the scoring chances. It was simply one of the finest efforts by the Mount Saint Vincent Men’s Soccer team this season. Unfortunately, for the second straight year, late-game heroics by Maritime were the order of the day as the Privateers scored twice during the final five minutes of play and escaped Mount Saint Vincent with a 2-0 win during a game played at Westchester Community College. With the loss, the Dolphins fall to 3-6 for the 2006 season and are now 0-3 in Skyline Conference play.

Mount Saint Vincent went on the offensive from the opening whistle, acting as the aggressor and keeping Maritime on their heels. The Dolphins took seven of the games first 10 shots and owned possession early, and had several golden opportunities to score. However, while Maritime buckled several times, they did not break, thanks to the heroic efforts of Privateer goalie Matt Kavanaugh (Pennfield, NY/Pennfield HS), who made a spectacular 13 saves, most of which were diving stops. Kavanaugh was called upon time after time to make the big save as a relentless Dolphin attack, led by senior Chris Herrera (Fresh Meadows, NY/St. Francis Prep), who took 12 of the Mount’s 28 shots, did not let up.

But the Maritime defense held long enough for the Privateers to get the first big break in the 85th minute when a long lob by sophomore Victor Sanchez (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove HS) was gobbled up by freshman Mehmet Alkan (Turkey/Ozet Cent) deep inside the box and converted for the first goal of the game. Three minutes later, Alkan struck again, finishing a crossing pass by sophomore Mayer Nelson (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington HS) in the 88th minute for the 2-0 final.

Overall, the Mount outshot Maritime, 28-21 and had nine corner kicks to Maritime’s one. However, the difference was the stellar play of Kavanaugh, who could have easily allowed five goals on an average day. But Kavanaugh was simply spectacular. His counterpart, Martino Cecere (Rye Brook, NY/Blind Brook HS), made three saves during another solid outing.

Mount Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 7 when they travel to Purchase College for a 3:00 p.m. start.