The NCAA has announced that Williams College has been selected as a host of First and Second Round NCAA Tournament games this coming Saturday and Sunday on Cole Field.
Williams (10-4-3) will host Manhattanville (13-7-1) at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
That game will be followed by a contest between Cortland the SUNYAC Champions (15-3-5) and Messiah the MAC Commonwealth champions (14-5-1) at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday's winners will meet on Cole Field at 1 p.m. to battle for the right to continue in the NCAA Tournament.
The Valiants are coming off a 4-3 win over No. 1 St. Joseph's-Long Island in the championship to go back to back in the Skyline.
In the conference finale, Manhattanville started off the scoring under sixty seconds into the contest, as the ball found its way to the right foot of Kenneth Suqui, who placed it into the side netting with a half-volley, giving the Valiants an early lead. Later in the half, the Golden Eagles would answer back, with Nick Pensavalle catching the Valiants on a counterattack to tie the score at one-all.
Swifty later, St. Joseph's-LI would mount the lead for the first time of the day with Pensavalle finding Jack Pulisic in the box, for a 2-1 Golden Eagle margin. As time ticked by, the Valiants would continue to keep possession in the opposing half, eventually leading to St. Joe's fouling a Valiant in the box for a penalty kick.
Penalty kicktaker Jostyn Blanco stepped up to the spot and did what he had done all season long, placing it into the lower right corner to even up the game once again, but this time at two-all.
All the second stanza got underway, Demba Cham let a shot ring from the top of the 18-yard box, getting set up by Blanco and Kyle Knussman, seeing the momentum swing in the Valiants' favor, as they now sit up, 3-2. The Golden Eagles were given another chance to level the score, when a tough challenge from the Valiant netminder resulted in a penalty kick, with Devin Seara slotting it home, as the contest for a second time sat tied, being 3-3 now.
The deadlock would hold for the next thirteen minutes of game time, as the Valiants would break through the St. Joseph's-LI backline, this time with a free kick opportunity on the right side, just outside the box. Joseph Kresse would whip it in, finding the head of Johnny Antolino and rippling the back netting, seeing the Valiants mount a 4-3 lead.
The Valiants would control the pace of play, and play a little bit of keep away from their counterparts over the next eight minutes, as the final buzzer sounded and the Valiants were crowned Skyline Champions for the second-straight time.
With his efforts throughout the tournament, frontman Mason Chetti was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
-With Williams College Sports Information