Men's Soccer Starts Slow Against Queens, Falls 1-0
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 10, 2011) – On Monday afternoon the Mercy College men's soccer team faced Queens College looking to break a three-game losing streak. The Mavericks came out flat in the first half and allowed an early goal off a free kick, which proved to be enough for the Knights to escape with a slim victory.
Mercy drops to 5-5-1 overall and 1-3 in the ECC with the loss, while Queens improves to 6-5-2 (3-0-1).
The Knights got their goal in the 11th minute when senior midfielder Santiago Bedoya (East Elmhurst, N.Y.)'s long free kick cleared the Mavericks' defense and sophomore midfielder Tyler Iocco (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) got his head onto it and knocked it past junior goalkeeper Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.), who had stepped out to try to punch the ball away.
The Mavericks nearly equalized twice on point-blank headers by junior back Manuel Paulino (Barranquilla, Colombia) but he sent one high and senior goalkeeper Demetrius Touros (Bellerose, N.Y.) made a fantastic reflex save to keep the second out of the net. Another brilliant chance for the Mavericks was thwarted when a Knights defender made headed a shot off the goal line.
Mercy played with more energy as the match went on and looked ready to strike on several occasions but just could not muster the equalizer. On one final free kick just 20 yards out with less than a minute remaining, freshman midfielder Daniel Leon (Flushing, N.Y.) curled a beautiful ball just wide of the left post and the Mavericks were out of opportunities and left on the edge of being eliminated from the ECC Tournament. With three matches remaining in ECC play, the Mavericks will need to run the table and get some help in the final weeks to qualify.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will travel to Stonehill College (6-6) on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
