Championship Central

NEW YORK - Regular-season men's soccer play wrapped up in the Skyline Conference Wednesday night, and top-seeded U.S. Merchant Marine Academy leads the six-team field for the 2016 Skyline Conference Men's Soccer Championship.

First-round action begins Saturday (Oct. 29), with semifinals taking place Nov. 2. The championship final will take place at the highest-remaining seed on Nov. 5, with the winner earning the Skyline's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.

Head coach Michael Smolens's USMMA side (11-4-2, 10-1 Skyline) earned the top seed in its return to the conference this fall, and has a bye into next Wednesday's semifinal round. Mount Saint Mary College (11-6-1, 10-1) is the No. 2 seed for the championship, and also has a bye into the semifinals.

On USMMA's side of the bracket, fifth-seeded St. Joseph's College-Long Island (7-10, 6-5) will travel to No. 4-seed Farmingdale State College (9-7, 8-3) for a 12 noon first-round kickoff on Saturday. The host Rams scored a 5-2 decision over the Golden Eagles in the teams' regular-season finale on Oct. 26. Saturday's winner will play in a Nov. 2 semifinal at USMMA at 4 p.m.

Head coach Kevin Longacre's MSMC team awaits the winner of Saturday's 1 p.m. first-round contest between sixth-seeded The Sage Colleges (7-7-3, 5-5-1) and third-seeded host SUNY Old Westbury (11-4-4, 8-2-1). The teams tied 1-1 on Sept. 17 at Panther Park, and will look to move on to the Nov. 2 semifinal in Newburgh (7 p.m. kick-off).
 
Seeds

1. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (11-4-2, 10-1 Skyline)
2. Mount Saint Mary (11-6-1, 10-1 Skyline)
3. Old Westbury (11-4-4, 8-2-1 Skyline)
4. Farmingdale State (9-7, 8-3 Skyline)
5. St. Joseph's-Long Island (7-10, 6-5 Skyline)
6. Sage (7-7-3, 5-5-1 Skyline)

First Round

Saturday, Oct. 29

(5) St. Joseph's-Long Island at (4) Farmingdale State, 12 p.m. 
(6) Sage at (3) Old Westbury, 1 p.m. 

Semifinals

Wednesday, Nov. 2

St. Joseph's-Long Island/Farmingdale State winner at (1) U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 4 p.m.
Sage/Old Westbury winner at (2) Mount Saint Mary, 7 p.m.

Final

Saturday, Nov. 5

Semifinal winners (at highest-remaining seed; time TBD)