Men's Soccer Ends Outstanding Season Against No. 2 LIU Post in ECC Championship
Box Score BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. (Nov. 2, 2012) – The No. 4 seed Mercy College men's soccer team took on top-seeded No. 2 LIU Post in the semifinals of the East Coast Conference Championship on a cold and overcast Friday afternoon in Brookhaven, N.Y.
The game was moved from LIU Post's campus all the way out to Dowling College due to power outages as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
LIU Post put the pressure on right from the start, with junior forward Cemil Turan (Staten Island, N.Y) the ECC's goals and points leader and leading candidate for Offensive Player of the Year honors, heading the charge. Turan looked primed to wreak havoc on the Mavericks defense as he made several powerful runs and came close to scoring on some smooth, curling shots. Mercy had an early chance as well when senior forward William Koki (Aurora, Colo.) was sent long just over the defender's shoulder, but junior goalkeeper Marco Jorgensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) came out and forced a corner.
The game settled down a bit after the first 20 minutes, but then just after sophomore midfielder Danny Leon Jr. (Flushing, N.Y.) was issued a questionable yellow card for a tough tackle, junior forward Ransmond Aboagye (Bronx, N.Y.) played a short chip to Koki at the top of the box, which Koki floated over Jorgensen's shoulder and into the right side of the net to give Mercy the 1-0 lead.
It would not last, however, as the Pioneers slowly built up their attack again and picked up an equalizer in the 34th minute. After junior midfielder Mustaffa Alobeidy (Bronx, N.Y.) was issued a yellow card for blocking a free kick, junior back Erik Bjoernoe (Randaberg, Norway) sent the ball to the top of the six-yard box, where freshman midfielder Alex Billington (Preston, England) met it with a header into the right side.
The Pioneers found the go-ahead goal just three minutes later as senior forward Andreas Olson (Oppeid, Norway) sprinted up the right sideline on a counter attack and sent the ball back to a streaking junior midfielder Jonathon Watkin (Doncaster, England) who smashed it into the top shelf for the 2-1 lead.
The Pioneers, who had been fairly chippy all afternoon, were finally assessed a yellow card in the 40th minute when sophomore back Oscar Kjellstrom (Stenungsund, Sweden) grabbed junior back Luis Perez (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) around the waist and brought him to the ground. Neither team could manage to put anything together after that point and the score remained 2-1 heading into halftime.
The Mavericks came out of the break looking as potent as ever, nearly equalizing on several occasions within the first six minutes. Just two minutes in, sophomore midfielder Ryan Flynn (Valley Stream, N.Y.) blocked a quick restart at the top of LIU Post's box and the ball fell to Leon, who could not quite direct his shot through the crowded box, with a deflection slowing it enough for Jorgensen to save with relative ease. Aboagye had another chance three minutes later, just missing getting behind the defense by half a step, which was enough for Jorgenson to again step out and clear the ball. Finally, Leon stepped up to a free kick from about 30 yards out and sent a low knuckling shot toward the right post, but Jorgensen just got there to cover it up.
The Pioneers took over from that point on as Turan kicked things off with a long run up the left side before cutting into the box and calmly slotting the ball around junior goalkeeper Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) to make it 3-1. LIU Post was far from finished as well, adding four more strikes before it was all over, including one on a fortunate bounce back to the attacker after Papas did well to step out and make the initial save on a breakaway. Papas finished the day with six saves.
The Mavericks finish an outstanding season 10-5-3 overall, having been ranked in the NSCAA East region every week and climbing as high as No. 24 in Division II. Koki led the team with 12 goals and four assists for an incredible 28 points, which ranks second in the conference.
