Lawrenceville, N.J. (October 25, 2023)—Mount St. Mary's clinched a home game in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women's soccer championships with a 1-0 victory at Rider on Wednesday evening.
Erin Antone's goal in the 78
th minute lifted the Mountaineers to the win, setting up a home playoff game against Niagara on Sunday, October 29, at the Mount's Waldron Family Stadium. Game time will be announced tomorrow.
The Mount finished MAAC play with a 5-4-1 record for 16 points, good for fourth in the league standings. The top six teams in the regular season advanced to the MAAC Championships. Quinnipiac earned the No. 1 seed, going 9-0-1 in league play, followed by Fairfield (7-2-1), Canisius (6-2-2), the Mount (5-4-1), Niagara (4-4-2) and Rider (4-5-1). Manhattan (3-4-3) and Siena (3-4-3) finished in a tie for seventh place, just one point shy of the final playoff spot.
The playoff bid is also the Mount's first since joining the MAAC last season, and the home game on Sunday against Niagara will be the first home playoff game in program history. The Mount's last playoff appearance came in 2018 when the Mountaineers qualified for the Northeast Conference Championships.
The Mount finishes the regular season with a 7-8-1 overall record, the most wins in a season since the 2012 team finished with a 7-11-1 mark. The Mountaineers are one win shy of matching the school record of eight wins set in 1996.
The game-winning goal came in the 78
th minute when Antone headed home a cross from Erin Streett to put the Mount ahead, 1-0. It is Antone's second goal of the season. Goalkeeper
Klil Keshwar turned away four shots to post her sixth shutout of the season, extending her school record set in the Mount's last game against Siena.
Rider held a 9-to-8 advantage in shots in the game with each team tallying four shots on goal in the game. The Mount had a 5-to-3 edge in corner kicks.
The Mountaineers closed the regular season strong, posting a 5-2-0 over the final seven games, holding the opposition to two goals over that span.
Sunday's MAAC First Round will see the Mount host Niagara while third-seeded Canisius will host sixth-seeded Rider. The winners will advance to the MAAC Semifinals on Thursday, November 2.
