Iannuzzi, Escala and Noble Score to Give Women's Soccer a 3-2 Victory Over ECC Foe St. Thomas Aquinas
Box Score SPARKILL, N.Y. (Oct. 1, 2016) – Powered by goals from juniors Alyssa Iannuzzi (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) and Stephanie Escala (Corona, N.Y./Long Island City) and sophomore Haley Noble (Torrance, Calif./Torrance), the Mercy College women's soccer team earned a 3-2 victory over East Coast Conference (ECC) foe St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Field.
The Mavericks (7-2, 4-0 ECC) remain unbeaten in ECC play and have won six games in a row, while the Spartans (3-8, 0-4 ECC) stay winless in conference play.
Iannuzzi scored her first goal of the season, while Escala notched her second and also recorded an assist. Noble tallied her team-leading seventh goal of the season on five shots on goal, while junior Heidi Serna (West Covina, Calif./South Hills) chipped in two assists. Junior goalkeeper Ashley Price (Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium) made four saves to pick up the victory in net.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Nicole Rivera who scored two goals, while goalkeeper Courtney Dumain made ten saves in a losing effort.
The contest remained scoreless for the first 16 minutes of action before the Mavericks capitalized off their third corner kick in a row. Iannuzzi headed the ball into the back of the net off a corner taken by Serna to make it 1-0 in favor of Mercy.
The Spartans answered back just under four minutes later when Rivera scored her first of the day off a feed from Francesca Giglio to even the score up at 1-1 in the 21st minute. The Mavericks continued to apply offensive pressure, but Dumain came up with six saves to keep the score tied at 1-1 heading into the 41st minute.
Mercy would once again score off a corner as Escala nailed a header into the net off a corner by Serna to give the lead back to the Mavericks at 2-1 going into halftime. Mercy held a 10-3 edge in shots and a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks in the first half.
The second half saw the Spartans open up the period with a pair of shots, but the Mavericks increased their lead in the 54th minute. Escala crossed the ball over to Noble who then fired it into the net to give Mercy a 3-1 lead.
St. Thomas Aquinas immediately responded with a goal in the 56th minute as Rivera scored off a free kick to cut the Spartans deficit to 3-2. The Mavericks would hold on for the victory as Price made three stops to keep St. Thomas Aquinas off the board for the remainder of the contest.
Mercy held an 18-11 edge in shots and an 11-0 advantage in corner kicks on the day.
Head Coach Jonathan Feinstein and the Mavericks look to make it seven in a row when they play at Saint Anselm College on Tuesday, October 4th at 4 p.m.
