Championship Central

KINGS POINT, N.Y. - Senior Gavin Yingling headed home a 15-yard goal off a right-to-left diagonal through ball from teammate Tim Hughes in the 99th minute Saturday afternoon at Brooks Stadium, giving top-seeded U.S. Merchant Marine Academy the 2016 Skyline Conference Men's Soccer Championship by a 1-0 count over sixth-seeded The Sage Colleges.

Head coach Michael Smolens's Mariners (13-4-2) have earned the conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship, and the field will be announced Monday (Nov. 7) at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.

For USMMA, which is back in the conference for the 2016-17 academic year after a stay in the Landmark Conference, the Skyline title is its first since the 2002 campaign.

The Mariners outshot the visiting Gators (7-8-5) by a 25-8 count on the afternoon, including four shots apiece by Yingling (who had two goals in Wednesday's semifinal triumph over Farmingdale State) and fellow front man Jon Tarbox. Cory Maier preserved the team's ninth clean sheet of the season with a seven-save effort in the USMMA cage.

For Sage, Mike Chiaravalotti turned aside nine shots, while Paul Reynoso, River Seybolt and Kevin Saar each put two shots on frame.