(Bronx, NY) – Junior Chris Herrera (Queens, NY/St. Francis Prep) scored his ninth goal of the season early in the second half off of an assist by Garret Cooke (Kingston, RI/Bishop Hendricken), and the

Mount Saint Vincent goalie Nicholas Sens-Castet made nine saves,

Dolphins enjoyed a 41-17 shot advantage, but the Mount Saint Vincent Men's Soccer team could not overcome a red-hot goalie and strong second half surge, losing 3-1 to the Culinary Institute of America in the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference (HVMAC) Semifinals played at Maritime College. With the loss, Mount Saint Vincent – who entered the game as the top seed and HVMAC Regular Season Champion – ends the 2005 season with an 8-8-1 overall record. The loss also broke a five-game winning streak for the Mount.

Despite a 17-5 shots advantage during the first half for the Mount, the teams were tied at halftime. Mount Saint Vincent broke into the scoring column three minutes into the second half when a scramble in front of the Culinary goal led to Cooke finding Herrera for the score and the Dolphin lead. That would prove to be the only blemish of the day for Culinary goalie Matt LaGrow (Fayetteville, NY), who had a spectacular day between the pipes. The sophomore made 18 saves, including a save on a penalty kick and several other spectacular saves that seemed to be sure goals, to virtually shut down the Mount Saint Vincent offense.

Culinary (4-3, 1-3 HVMAC), the tournament's fourth seed, finally broke through at 57:20 when Tiago Joaquim (River Vale, NJ) converted an incredible transition play to tie the score. Just over a minute later, Culinary took the lead when Michael Lepage (Bloomfield, NJ) gathered a rebound after a save by Mount goalie Nicholas Sens-Castet (Brooklyn, NY/St. John's Prep) and fired a shot to the back of the empty net for the lead.

Mount Saint Vincent – the 2005 HVMAC Regular Season Champion – had several opportunities to tie the game, but where denied time after time by LaGrow. Finally, Culinary put the game away at 73:29 when Joaquim scored unassisted for his second tally of the day, and a 3-1 lead.

Mount Saint Vincent (8-8-1, 3-1 HVMAC) had the statistical edge in nearly every category. Besides the shot advantage, the Dolphins took nine corner kicks to Culinary's five, and the Mount dominated time of possession but was unable to solve a red-hot goalie.

Culinary advances to tomorrow HVMAC Championship Game against Cooper Union at 2:30. The game will be played at the Hyde Park Memorial Fields in Hyde Park, NY.