Karras Leads Women's Soccer Past St. Thomas Aquinas in ECC Battle, 3-1
Box Score BOXSCORE - Mercy vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
HILLBURN, N.Y. (Oct. 1, 2011) – The Mercy College women's soccer team's East Coast Conference contest versus St. Thomas Aquinas College was moved to the Torne Valley Sports Complex in Hillburn, N.Y. on Saturday evening because of bad field conditions on Mavericks Field. With two goals in the game, Mercy sophomore midfielder Jackie Karras (Nesconset, N.Y.) guided the Mavericks past the Spartans, 3-1, for their first league victory of the season.
Mercy, who served as the home team, kicked off the scoring in the 14th minute of play when sophomore back Reid Coffey (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) punched a corner kick to junior midfielder Viridiana Ortega (Los Angeles, Calif.). Ortega headed the ball to Karras who proceeded to fire it into the back of the netting for her first goal of the season.
Seven minutes later, the Mavericks tacked on another goal when Ortega went one-on-one with a STAC defender, beat her and then kicked the ball past Spartans goalkeeper Julia Karl. Mercy led, 2-0.
Shortly after returning from halftime, STAC (1-8, 0-2 ECC) picked up its only marker of the contest. Vicky Saravia received a cross-pass from Tori Matt, and then shot it over Mercy sophomore goalkeeper Krystal Guerrero's (East Meadow, N.Y.) head to change the score to 2-1 in favor of Mercy (2-7, 1-1 ECC) in minute # 51.
For the next 30 minutes, the score remained 2-1 as both defenses held the opposing strikers at bay. Karras then struck for her second goal of the game and a much-needed insurance tally for the Mavericks. Senior back Julia Camp (Belford, N.Y.) fired a free kick to Karras, who blasted it past the goalkeeper Karl to put Mercy ahead, 3-1. The Mavericks went on to hold that lead for the rest of the game.
Between the pipes for Mercy, Guerrero made four saves and earned her second win of the year. For the Spartans, Karl stopped three shots and received the loss.
Head Coach Jonathan Feinstein and the Mavericks return to action on Monday when they play a re-scheduled ECC contest against Queens College at Mavericks Field. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
