Men's Soccer Upsets 15th Ranked Wilmington 3-0
Box Score BOX SCORE
The Mercy College men's soccer team defeated the
nationally ranked Wildcats of Wilmington (Del.) University by the
score 3-0 this afternoon in a non-conference affair in West
Chester, Pa. With the victory Mercy improves to 1-1 overall,
while Wilmington falls to 0-2 for the season. Wilmington is ranked
#15 in the NSCAA Division II Preseason poll.
Senior Hugo Bernal (Guadalajara,
Mexico/Irvington) scored one goal and one assist to
lead the Mavericks. Senior goalkeeper Pedro Velazquez-Diaz (Walden, N.Y./Newberry
College) earned his first shutout of the season,
compiling six saves.
Mercy was the dominate team in the first half, however was not
able to find the 
back of the net. They took all six of the half's corners and
out shot Wilmington four to two. At the 24:42 mark, senior Raldino Powell (Bronx, N.Y./Garvey
Maceo) took a hard shot on goal that was stopped by
the Wildcats keeper. Six minutes later, Alex Redmond (Irvington,
N.Y./Irvington) ripped another hard shot which was
also halted by the keeper. In the final seconds of the half, senior
Ben Latchford (Solihull, England/Scared Heart
College) headed a ball straight to the keeper for an
easy save.
In the second half, the Mavericks were able to continue the pace
of the game to their liking. Redmond scored an unassisted goal at
the 53:48 mark, giving the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. In the
62nd minute, junior Michael Fernandes (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Blessed
Sacrament) scored his first goal of the season from a
Burnal feed, increasing Mercy's advantage to 2-0. Four
minutes later, with the Wildcats pressing hard, the Mavericks
scored goal number three when sophomore Daniele Iamiceli (Ossining,
N.Y./Ossining) found an open Bernal, who promptly
scored.
“We got a great performance from our guys in the
back,” stated first-year head coach Chris
Smith. “Velazquez-Diaz came up big in goal for
us too. [It was] Just a great team effort today.”
For the game, Mercy out-shot Wilmington (14-9), and had more
corners (7-5).
The men's soccer team will return to action tomorrow,
September 5, and will face Goldey-Beacom at West Chester University
for a 12 p.m. start.
