Men's Soccer Beaten by Early Goal, Falls to No. 3 C.W. Post, 1-0
Box Score BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 15, 2011) – On Saturday afternoon the Mercy College men's soccer team took the field against undefeated No. 3 C.W. Post looking for an upset win to stay in the playoff race. A sixth-minute goal instantly crushed those hopes, however, as it proved to be the difference in the Pioneers' 1-0 victory.
Mercy falls to 5-7-1 overall and 1-4 in the ECC, while C.W. Post improves to 12-0-1 (4-0-1). The sixth straight loss also puts the Mavericks on the edge of missing the postseason, as NYIT (9-2-2, 3-1-1) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (8-1-4, 2-1-2) both picked up wins earlier in the day. The only scenario in which the Mavericks can qualify is if they win their final two ECC games, against Molloy (0-4-1 ECC record) and Dowling (0-2-2 ECC record), while St. Thomas Aquinas must lose its final two games and Bridgeport (which faces St. Thomas Aquinas) cannot win both its final games.
C.W. Post found the decisive goal in the sixth minute as sophomore midfielder Jonathon Watkin (Doncaster, England) split a pair of defenders and cut back a pass to junior forward Andreas Olson (Oppeid, Norway), who smashed it past junior goalkeeper Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) for the 1-0 advantage.
The Pioneers controlled the run of play for much of the game but Mercy unleashed an onslaught on goal late in the second half, ripping seven shots in the final 25 minutes but putting none on frame, although they did force six saves of sophomore goalkeeper Marco Jorgensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) through the first 65 minutes.
Papas did his part to keep the Mavericks in the match after allowing the lone early goal, making eight saves. The Mavericks were without their leading scorer, junior forward William Koki (Aurora, Colo.) for the third game while he remains in the Ivory Coast on bereavement.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will have one last tune-up, against Lock Haven University (7-5) on Tuesday 3:00 p.m.
