Prando and Penate Score to Lead Men's Soccer to 2-0 Victory Over Felician
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 10, 2016) – Powered by goals from senior Gonzalo Prando (Jefferson Valley, N.Y./Lakeland) and junior Ericson Penate (Reseda, Calif./LA Mission JC), the Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 2-0 victory over Felician University in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (3-0-1) are now off to their best start since the 2013 season when they last qualified for the ECC Tournament, while the Golden Falcons (0-3-1) remain winless on the year.
Penate recorded his team-high third goal of the season, while Prando notched his second goal of the year after scoring in the Mavericks last game against American International. Sophomore Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) added an assist and a team high four shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Kwantarian Van der Lara (Conway, Ark./Marshalltown CC) earned his second consecutive shutout win and moves to 3-0-1 on the year.
Felician was led by Dean Wright who had a team high two shots. Goalkeeper Jasur Tursunboyev made eight saves in a losing effort.
The Mavericks controlled play throughout, owning an 18-3 edge in shots and an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks on the day. Tursunboyev made four saves in the first 24 minutes of action to keep the score at 0-0 just over midway through the first half.
Mercy broke the scoreless tie in the 27th minute when Lacerda fed Penate a nice throughball and the junior fired the shot in the top right corner of the net to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks continued to apply pressure and would be rewarded with a penalty kick. Prando took a penalty kick for the second consecutive game and was stopped by Tursunboyev on the initial shot, but on the rebound the senior fired the ball into the back of the net to put Mercy up 2-0.
The backline of the Mavericks helped limit Felician to zero shots in the first half as Mercy held a 12-0 edge in shots at halftime.
The second half saw the Golden Falcons record their lone three shots of the game in the first 10 minutes of action, but the Mercy backline kept those shots off target to keep the game at 2-0.
Turnsunboyev made three saves in the second stanza to keep Felician in the game, but the Mavericks defense proved too much to overcome. Mercy ended the second half with a 6-3 edge in shots and a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks will look to win their third straight game as they open ECC play at Daemen College on Friday, September 16th at 11 a.m.
