Men's Soccer in Playoff Picture With Two Games to Play
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 18 2012) – With two games remaining on the schedule, the Mercy College men's soccer team is right in the thick of the East Coast Conference Championship race. The Mavericks rank fourth in the ECC at 4-3 (12 points),with away games against the University of Bridgeport (8-6, 6-1) on Saturday, Oct. 20 and St. Thomas Aquinas College (4-5-3, 1-3-2) on Saturday, Oct. 27.
With four teams receiving berths in the Championship, Mercy is in line to earn a spot and could finish as high as second. However, it is still anyone's race and the Mavericks will have their work cut out for them over the remaining two weeks.
NYIT (13 points) came into the week on the fringes of the race but with two games in hand, both of which the Bears won, including knocking off then-No. 1 LIU Post, 2-1. Junior Matt DiDonna recorded a hat trick in the most recent victory, a 4-2 win over Molloy on Wednesday. The Bears now rank just above the Mavericks in third place, but Mercy holds the tiebreaker thanks to a 1-0 victory back on Sept. 23.
Queens (11 points) have a pair of tough games remaining, at No. 3 LIU Post (12-1, 6-1) and home versus NYIT (7-5-2, 4-2-1). Unfortunately for Mercy, Queens holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with its 1-0 victory back on Sept. 29, so the Mavericks will need to hold their one-point lead to earn a spot ahead of the Knights.
Roberts Wesleyan ranks sixth with nine points but is not eligible for postseason play since this is the Redhawks' first year as an ECC member. Otherwise, they would have arguably the easiest remaining slate with a pair of home games against sub-.500 teams in STAC (4-5-3, 1-3-2) and the University of the District of Columbia (4-6-2, 1-4-1). The Mavericks would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker anyway thanks to a 3-2 victory on Sept. 21, so a win over the next two games for Mercy would knock Roberts Wesleyan out of the equation even if the Redhawks were to win out.
STAC (eight points) controls its fate in the race more than any other team, facing Roberts Wesleyan (6-8, 3-4) on the road and hosting Mercy (10-3-2, 4-3) in the season finale. The Spartans have won their past three games after a mid-season four-game losing streak.
Molloy (six points) is on the fringes of the playoff race with six points but could still edge a few teams out for the final berth with three games remaining. The Lions face a pair of sub-.500 teams on the road in UDC (4-6-2, 1-4-1) and Dowling (2-11-1, 0-6) but have a daunting season finale against No.3 LIU Post (12-1, 6-1) and have not won a conference game since Sept. 22. Molloy does hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Mercy after its ECC-opening 4-3 victory on Sept. 15.
ECC Standings
LIU Post 6-1
Bridgeport 6-1
NYIT 4-2-1
Mercy College 4-3
Queens 3-2-2
STAC 2-3-2
Molloy 2-4
Eliminated
UDC 1-4-1
Dowling 0-6
Ineligible
Roberts Wesleyan 3-4
