Verjoni Records First Collegiate Goal as Men's Soccer Hosts Dowling
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 29, 2014) – Freshman Haxhi Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Marlboro) recorded his first collegiate goal in the 87th minute off an assist from junior Christian Diaz (Watsonville, Calif./Watsonville (Univ. of Vermont)), as the Mercy College men's soccer team hosted East Coast Conference (ECC) opponent Dowling College in their 2014 home finale.
The Golden Lions move to 9-5-2 overall and 6-3-1 in league play, while the Mavericks are now 3-13 on the season and 2-7 in ECC competition.
The teams played almost 17 scoreless minutes before the visitors struck with a goal by Jose Herrara, who played a cross from Philip Svensson off the right side and headed the ball into the back of the net to put Dowling up 1-0.
Despite trailing, Mercy continued to apply pressure and would end up outshooting the Golden Lions 13-8 in the opening half and were helped defensively by four key saves from sophomore goalkeeper Luis Lizarzaburu (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) in the frame as they stayed within striking distance at 1-0 heading into the break.
Both teams would have scoring chances coming out of the intermission, but neither team could come through until Herrera struck again in the 62nd minute for his second of the game to put the Golden Lions up 2-0.
The Mavericks upped their intensity and forced Dowling goalie Chris Friedl to make six saves in a span of 20 minutes before Verjoni took a cross from Diaz inside the six and spun around rocketing a shot past Friedl to make it 2-1. However, time was not on Mercy's side as they could not find the equalizer in the final three minutes and the visitors were able to escape from Dobbs Ferry with a win.
Mercy ended the afternoon with a 24-14 edge in shots, including holding a 9-7 margin in shots on goal, and maintained a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Diaz led the Mavericks with eight shots and five shots on goal, while recording his first assist of the season. Senior Tafari Newman (Bronx, N.Y./Meadowbrook/Evander Childs) chipped in with four shots and seniors Danny Leon Jr. (Flushing, N.Y./Benjamin Cardozo) and Mubarak Sani (Bronx, N.Y./Borough of Manhattan CC) each fired three shots on the day. Lizarzaburu was strong in net making five saves for Mercy.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks return to action on Saturday, November 1st, playing at Queens College in an ECC tilt at 3 p.m. in Mercy's 2014 finale. Live stats for the contest will be available at mercyathletics.com.
