ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose passed arguably its toughest test of the season with flying colors by upending Northeast-10 Conference rival Merrimack 2-0 in a match-up of two nationally ranked teams today at Sullivan Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex. In the process, the Golden Knights (15-0/12-0 NE-10) secured at least a share of an NE-10 regular-season title for the fifth straight year.

Saint Rose entered the afternoon as the top-ranked team for the fifth consecutive week according to the most recent NSCAA/HendrickCars.com NCAA Division II Poll, while the Warriors (9-4-2/9-3-1 NE-10) came in listed 21st.

The Golden Knights then proceeded to bolster their prestigious standing by controlling the match throughout and scoring twice less than three minutes apart in the first half.

Junior forward Gianna D'Errico made it 1-0 with 18:03 elapsed when she redirected a shot from 25-yards out off the foot of fellow junior midfielder Christina Cuffari. It marked her 10th strike of the year. Cuffari then sent a thru ball into the box that freshman forward Carmelina Puopolo ran onto and finished for her eighth tally.

Senior keeper Deanna Esposito made two saves on the way to her eighth clean sheet of the season, while Merrimack net minder Kiley Horne turned aside six Saint Rose shots-on-goal.

Overall, the Golden Knights wound up with an 18-3 shot advantage, including a 12-1 margin in the decisive first half, and engineered six corner kicks, while yielding only one.

Saint Rose also had a few threats that were barely off target. Senior midfielder Amanda Deck whistled a shot from outside the box that sailed just above the crossbar in the 25th minute. In the 57th, Cuffari penetrated down the left flank and fired a ball that curled just beyond the right goal post.

Up next, Saint Rose is back on its home pitch Tuesday for a 5:00 pm date with league rival Saint Michael's. Meanwhile, Merrimack has an overnight trek to Long Island where they'll meet NYIT for a 2:00 pm non-league match tomorrow.

Box Score