#2 Women's Soccer Gives It All in ECC Championship Final at #1 Bridgeport
Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Nov. 9, 2013) – The #2 seed Mercy College women's soccer team squared off with the top-seeded No.23 University of Bridgeport Purple Knights on Saturday in the final of the East Coast Conference Championship. The Mavericks gave it their all but came up just short as the Purple Knights won the game, 1-0, on an early first half goal.
The Purple Knights improve to 17-2-0, while the Mavericks fall to 13-4-1 and will await a possible NCAA Championship bid, which will be announced Monday night.
A cold November morning and early 11 a.m. start couldn't turn away a multitude of Mercy student-athletes, fans and staff from making the 45-minute trip up I-95 to Bridgeport, easily outnumbering the home side supporters. The Mavericks started out strong, attacking the Purple Knights defense and ECC Goalkeeper of the Year Julia Hansson. Junior Mackenize Cochrane (Mission Viejo, Calif. / Fresno State) got off the first shot of the day for the Mavericks, but sent the free kick wide. Bridgeport answered quickly, scoring first on a goal by Amanda Moura who received a cross from Flo Gamby. Mercy kept working as junior First Team All-ECC selection Jessica Carrillo (San Diego, Calif. / Hilltop) beat defender Lauren Mengel up the right side and crossed the ball to junior Danielle Deeb (San Diego, Calif. / Academy of Our Lady of Peace), whose shot was just wide of the net. Senior Second Teamer All-ECC choice Jennifer Vega (Norwalk, Calif. / Cerritos College) also cracked a shot that was stopped by Hansson.
The Mavericks had a golden opportunity to tie the game as they received a penalty kick after Bridgeport committed a foul in the box in the 43rd minute. Cochrane – who converted a spot kick in the semifinal victory over Queens College – stepped up to take the shot for Mercy. She curled the ball to the right and Hansson was just able to get her fingertips onto the ball, knocking it away for the save and maintaining the Purple Knights' 1-0 lead into halftime.
Spirits remained high in the locker room during halftime, and Mercy came out for the second period looking to push through and survive the battle of the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Mavericks had a chance early as senior Caitlin McKenna (Massapequa Park, N.Y. / Massapequa) ran onto a through ball, but her shot went just wide of the net again. The Purple Knights started to look gassed, but continued to swing services into the box, fortunately for the Mavericks failing to connect on any of them. Sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Augustine (Kingston, N.Y. / Kingston) made a pair of big saves on Bridgeport's Moura and Gamby to keep the Mavericks within striking distance.
Senior Stephanie Manta (Valley Stream, N.Y. / Valley Stream Central) stood over a late corner kick in the 89th minute and swung in an excellent ball to the front post, but the Mavericks couldn't control it and it went out for a goal kick as the Purple Knights defense preserved the 1-0 win for Bridgeport's first title since 2009.
For Mercy, Augustine finished with four big saves for the Mavericks.
Mercy's season may not be finished just yet, as the Mavericks are in the running for a bid to the NCAA Championship. Having been ranked sixth in the latest East Region Rankings, the Mavericks would likely be looking at a lower seed in the 4-6 range, meaning they will likely travel to one of two host sites (the top two seeds), which are shaping up to be either the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y., Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., or Bridgeport.
