Men's Soccer Retains Fourth Place in ECC After Matchup at Rival Bridgeport
Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Oct. 20, 2012) – The Mercy College men's soccer team traveled to East Coast Conference rival University of Bridgeport on Saturday night. The Mavericks fell to the Purple Knights, who are tied for first place in the ECC.
Mercy drops to 10-4-2 overall 4-4 in the ECC but retains its current position of fourth place in the conference standings thanks to Queens College's 8-2 drubbing at the hands of LIU Post. Bridgeport is now 9-7 (7-1) and tied atop the standings with LIU Post.
Freshman forward Luis Fajardo (Danbury, Conn.) gave the Purple Knights the lead in just the first minute, receiving a pass from the left side and beating junior goalkeeper Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) one-on-one for the score. Senior forward William Koki (Aurora, Colo.) tried to equalize for Mercy, ripping two shots on goal as the first half got underway, but neither found the back of the net.
The Mavericks defense settled down after the surprise opener to hold Bridgeport off through the remainder of the half, but the Purple Knights finally broke things open in the 58th minute, scoring the first of what would be four more goals en route to a 5-0 victory.
Papas finished the day with two saves for Mercy, while junior midfielder Andreas Blanke (Gothenburg, Sweden) led Bridgeport with two goals and an assist. Freshman goalkeeper Augustin Prados (Madrid, Spain) who picked up the win in net, and senior goalkeeper Danny Hernandez (Bay Shore, N.Y.), who played the final 16 minutes, each recorded three saves for the Purple Knights.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will head to St. Thomas Aquinas College (5-5-4, 2-3-3) for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 27 to close out the regular season.
Mercy (12 points) can still finish as high as third in the ECC standings, currently ranking behind NYIT (4-2-1, 13 points) but holding the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of a 1-0 victory earlier in the year. Queens (3-3-2, 11 points) sits in fifth and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Mercy, should it come into play, while STAC (nine points) can still sneak into the ECC Championship with a win over Mercy.
