Diaz Brace Keeps No. 24 Men's Soccer Perfect with 3-1 ECC Win Over STAC
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 2013) – Sophomore Christian Diaz (Watsonville, Calif. / Univ. of Vermont) added two more goals to his East Coast Conference-leading tally of six as the No. 24 Mercy College men's soccer team stayed perfect on the season with a 3-1 victory over ECC rival St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon.
Mercy improves to 5-0 and stays atop the conference at 2-0 while STAC drops to 2-2-1 (1-1).
The Mavericks dictated play from the start, but the Spartans' set piece ability paid off in just the eighth minute as graduate student Ethan Evans headed in a corner from junior Jack Legg to take an early 1-0 lead, also breaking Mercy's four-match shutout streak to start the season.
Mercy quickly responded, and with authority, as the hosts notched twice in just a two-minute span to take the lead themselves. Junior Jonathan Garcia (Falls Church, Va. / ASA College) chipped a pass from the left side across the box to Diaz, who blasted it home from 14 yards away to level the score. Shortly after, sophomore Juan Gatti (New Rochelle, N.Y. / Monroe CC) touched a free kick over to junior Danny Leon Jr. (Flushing, N.Y. / Benjamin Cardozo), who unleashed a signature strike from outside the box to put the Mavericks on top, 2-1.
The Spartans pushed for an equalizer but could not break through the Mercy defense even with the Mavericks missing sophomore Gabriel Luna (Watsonville, Calif. / Hartnell College) due to a red card suspension. Diaz would later notch his second goal of the game on a 45-yard long ball from the right sideline that hit floated over junior Nathan Mangione, hit the left post and rolled into the net.
Mercy went on to outshott STAC, 23-11, over the match, while also winning eight corner kicks to the Spartans' two. Senior Nick Papas (Castleton, N.Y. / Hudson Valley CC) recovered well from the early goal to record another six saves, bringing his season save percentage to a conference-leading .966, while Diaz now shares the ECC goals lead with LIU Post's Eivind Austboe.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will look to keep their perfect record intact as they travel to Bloomfield College (1-3) on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
