Gatti and Sanguina Score on Senior Day to Lead Men's Soccer Over Molloy, 4-1
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 31, 2015) – Powered by goals from graduate students Junior Sanguina (Valhalla, N.Y./SUNY Purchase) and Juan Gatti (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Monroe CC) on Senior Day, the Mercy College men's soccer team earned an impressive 4-1 win over Molloy College in their season finale on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
In a ceremony prior to the game, head coach Chris Smith and the Mercy athletic department recognized the careers of seniors Owen O'Hora (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset), Gabriel Luna (Santa Cruz, Calif./Hartnell College), Luigi Puello (Queens Village, N.Y./Francis Lewis), Sanguina and Gatti.
The Mavericks (6-9-1, 4-5-1 ECC) conclude the season winning two of their last three games and knock the Lions (10-6-0 ECC, 5-5-0 ECC) out of ECC Tournament contention.
Sanguina and Gatti each scored in their final game as Mavericks with Gatti also adding an assist. Mercy also received goals from sophomore Haxhi Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Marlboro) and freshman Donovan Cesar (Jamaica, N.Y./St. Francis Prep). Cesar and freshman Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) also finished with assists, while sophomore goalkeeper Kwantarian Van der Lara (Conway, Ark./Marshalltown CC) made five saves to pick up the win in net.
Molloy received their lone goal of the game from Kyle Poetzsch, while goalkeeper Stephen Tappeto made six saves to take the loss.
The Mavericks came out in their final game of the 2015 season and played the role of spoiler as they dominated the Lions from start-to-finish to end Molloy's season.
Following a pair of shots from Lacerda and redshirt freshman Romello Fraser (Brooklyn, N.Y./School for Human Rights) early on in the contest, Sanguina scored his fifth goal of the year in only the 7th minute of action to put Mercy up 1-0 and send a message to the visitors.
There were few scoring chances for the remainder of the half but the Lions made theirs count in the 39th minute as Poetzsch finished off a give-and-go play with Mosiah Whyte to even up the score at 1-1.
The Mavericks came right back with a pair of shots but Tappeto made a pair of saves to keep the score tied heading into halftime.
Mercy ended the first half outshooting Molloy, 7-4, and held a 3-1 edge in corner kicks.
In the second half, the Mavericks dominated the Lions holding a 12-4 edge in shots and 6-0 margin in corners. However, the contest remained tied at 1-1 until Cesar connected in the 67th minute, following a throughball from Gatti from beyond midfield, beating the keeper one-on-one to give Mercy back the lead at 2-1.
The Lions came back on the offensive looking for the equalizer with their postseason lives on the line, but Van der Lara came up with a point blank stop on Poetzsch in the 82nd minute to keep the score at 2-1.
The Mavericks responded with Cesar setting up Verjoni in the 87th minute to make it 3-1 in favor of Mercy. Gatti capped things off on his Senior Day with a goal in the 88th minute on a free kick to close things out and send the Lions home eliminated from postseason contention.
