King's Point, NY - The College of Mount Saint Vincent's men's soccer team returned to the Skyline Conference playoffs for the second time in as many seasons, clinching the sixth and final spot, setting up a big time showdown against the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, they won't be getting an opportunity to defend their crown, as they fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Mariners on Sunday afternoon. 

CMSV ends their season with an overall record of 7-6-3. 

The Dolphins were placed at a disadvantage extremely early into the contest. A questionable red card was handed out to freshman starter Donovan Speer, who inadvertently touched the ball with his arm in the box of USMMA. Due to the incident, not only did the Dolphins play with 10 men for all but three minutes of the game, but also saw the Mariners convert the penalty kick after the card to make it a 1-0 game. 

The resiliency of CMSV was aparant. The team respomded in a major way just 13 minutes later, as leading goal scorer Ian Lamas scored on a penalty opportunity of his own. The junior's 11th goal of the 2022 campaign was good enough to knot things up at a goal apiece. Despite being down a player, the Dolphins battled over the rest of the first half, doing their best to keep USMMA from regaining the lead. 

The game stayed the same for the majority of the second half. Despite being outshot 27-7, the Dolphins' defense, led by Dennis Andino, Mario Bunjaj and Marc Jourdain, did a fantastic job keeping the USMMA offense at bay. Graduate student Giovanni Garufi had a tremendous game in net, as he made six saves in 90 minutes of action. 

The deciding factor came with less than a minute on the clock when the Mariners were able to score off a corner kick with traffic in front of Garufi's area. The Dolphins did their best to charge down field in the waning seconds, but failed to get a shot off before the final whistle. 

For the Dolphins, it may be a disappointing end on the surface, but it's another building block towards the ascension of being arguably the top team in the Skyline Conference. With all but five players returning in 2023, the sky is the limit for next year's Dolphins.