Men's Soccer Goes Down to Chestnut Hill in Overtime, 3-2
Box Score PHILADELPHIA, PA. (Oct. 5, 2011) – On Wednesday night the Mercy College men's soccer team took a break from conference play, traveling to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on Chestnut Hill College (4-5-1). After battling back to push the game into overtime, Mercy was sent home on a golden goal following a disputed foul call.
The Mavericks' record now sits at 5-3-1 overall, 1-1 in ECC play. Chestnut Hill improves to 5-5-1.
Mercy dictated the run of play from the start of the match, but it was the Griffins who took the early lead in the 15th minute, as senior midfielder Gavin Reid (Dundee, Scotland) scored on Chestnut Hill's first shot, a redirection of junior forward Darryl Richarson (Washington Township, N.J.)'s cross that gave junior goalkeeper Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) little time to react.
Reid and the Griffins continued to pound at the Mavericks' goal but could not put another shot on target, and Mercy found an equalizer 20 minutes later when graduate student forward Ben Latchford (Birmingham, England) headed in a long throw-in by senior midfielder Mark Guererro (East Meadow, N.Y.).
The Griffins struck again just five minutes into the second half, as Richardson ran onto a long ball from sophomore forward Darius Gbunblee (Philadelphia, Pa.), dribbled around Papas and slotted it home. Never ones to be counted out, however, the Mavericks fought back into the match in the 64th minute when leading goalscorer junior forward William Koki (Aurora, Colo.) used some fancy footwork to get past his defender and fire a shot home to tie the match again.
The teams stayed level through the second half and into overtime, but overtime did not prove kind to the Mavericks. Chestnut Hill fired three shots on goal, one of which was blocked and the other two forcing Papas to make his only two saves on the night, in the opening two minutes, and Mercy's only chance was scrapped when Koki was brought down on a breakaway but no penalty was awarded. Seconds later, a questionable call in front of the Mercy bench incited protest from the Mavericks coaches and players, and in the disarray Chestnut Hill's sophomore midfielder Mushe Wamalumue (Media, Pa.) found freshman forward Pat Steger (La Plata, Md.) at the back post, where Steger bounced a shot off a Mercy defender and past Papas for the win.
Despite totaling 22 shots to Chestnut Hill's 12 and forcing seven saves of freshman goalkeeper Dave Sullivan (Kutztown, Pa.), the Mavericks would leave empty handed after yet another heartbreaking loss.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will try to bounce back in another conference game at NYIT (7-2-1 overall, 1-1 in the ECC), ranked one spot below in the NSCAA East Region, on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
