Koki Ties for ECC Lead With Seventh Goal
Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2012) – Senior forward Williams Koki (Aurora, Colo.) scored his seventh goal of the season to tie for the conference lead in a thrilling East Coast Conference opener between the Mercy College men's soccer team and Molloy College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks looked well on their way to keeping their unbeaten streak intact early as sophomore midfielder Danny Leon Jr. (Flushing, N.Y.) scored his second goal of the year to open up a 1-0 lead for Mercy, but the Lions equalized just minutes later and quickly added a second in the 32nd to take the lead themselves.
Mercy had plenty left as well though as junior forward Ransmond Aboagye (Bronx, N.Y.) leveled the match another two minutes later off a cross from junior midfielder Mustaffa Alobeidy (Bronx, N.Y.), who is also tied for a conference lead, in assists (three).
The score read 2-2 heading into halftime and despite nine second-half corner kicks for Mercy, neither team could break through again until the 69th minute, when Koki struck what seemed like the final blow in an already exciting match. Sophomore midfielder Terrell Chapman (Baldwin, N.Y.) took the ball upfield on a counterattack and sent it in to Koki, who calmly placed it in the bottom right corner of the net to put his team up 3-2 with 21 minutes to play.
Unfortunately for Mercy, Molloy had yet another response, forcing overtime with a 75th-minute score. Just two minutes into extra play, Molloy's leading goal-scorer, senior midfielder/forward Tyler De La Torre (Valley Stream, N.Y.), tapped a cross into the left side to seal the win for the Lions.
Junior goalkeeper Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y.) made three saves in net for Mercy, while senior goalkeeper Michael Hunter (Merrick, N.Y.) stopped four shots between the posts for Molloy.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks (5-1-1, 0-1) will look to bounce back on Tuesday, Sept. 18 as they host Holy Family University (3-3) at 3:00 p.m. The match will be played at SUNY Purchase; directions can be found here.
