Gowani Goal in 83rd Minute Lifts Men's Soccer to 3-2 ECC Win Over Roberts Wesleyan
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 27, 2015) – Led by a game-winning goal from junior Adil Gowani (Huntington Station, N.Y./Nassau CC) in the 83rd minute, the Mercy College men's soccer team improved to .500 on the season with a 3-2 win over East Coast Conference (ECC) foe Roberts Wesleyan College on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (4-4, 2-1 ECC) surpass their win total from a year ago and move over .500 in league play, while the Redhawks (3-3-1, 2-1 ECC) suffer their first conference loss.
Also scoring for Mercy were graduate student Junior Sanguina (Valhalla, N.Y./SUNY Purchase) and redshirt freshman Romello Fraser (Brooklyn, N.Y./School for Human Rights). Graduate student Juan Gatti (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Monroe CC) and sophomore Haxhi Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Marlboro) each recorded an assist, while freshman Robert Retnauer (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) came on in the second half and made one save to earn the victory.
Roberts Wesleyan received goals from Garth Brungard and Malcolm Shaw, while goalkeeper John Ciavaglia made nine saves in taking the loss.
As has been the case in their first two home games, the Mavericks got off to a quick start with Sanguina scoring just 15 seconds into the contest. The graduate student took a cross from Gatti off a Redhawks turnover and shot lower right to give Mercy a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks continued to be the aggressors, forcing Ciavaglia to make a pair of saves, before Fraser struck with his second of the year on a shot well outside the box that found its way into the upper right corner of the net to give Mercy a 2-0 advantage less than 10 minutes in.
The action would go back-and-forth until the visitors from Rochester broke through with their first of the day on a goal from Brungard to make it 2-1 in the 37th minute. The score would remain 2-1 in favor of Mercy heading to halftime with the Redhawks maintaining a 10-8 edge in shots.
The second half saw few scoring opportunities to begin the period, but Roberts Wesleyan would find the game-tying goal in the 68th minute as Shaw took a cross from Logan Wood and fired it lower left to even the score up at 2-2.
With less than ten minutes left to play overtime looked like a possibility, but the Mavericks had other plans as Gowani headed in a corner kick by Verjoni in the 83rd minute to give Mercy a late 3-2 advantage.
The Mavericks would hold on for the victory as they ended the second half outshooting the Redhawks 8-4 to finish the game with a 16-14 advantage in shots.
Head Coach Chris Smith and the Mavericks will look to make it three straight wins as they host Bloomfield on Wednesday, September 30th at 4 p.m.
