Prando, Lacerda and Corral Score to Give Men's Soccer a 3-2 Victory Over Dominican
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 2016) – Led by goals from senior Gonzalo Prando (Jefferson Valley, N.Y./Lakeland), sophomore Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) and freshman Santiago Corral (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Instituto Francesco Faa Di Bruno), the Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 3-2 victory over Dominican College in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (6-0-1) win their fifth straight game and match their win total from all of last season, while the Chargers (2-5) have lost three of their last four games. The five-game winning streak is the longest since the 2013 season when Mercy opened up the season 6-0.
Prando recorded his fourth goal of the season, while Lacerda ended the day with his first goal of the season, a team high two shots on goal and an assist. Corral notched his first collegiate goal and junior goalkeeper Kwantarian Van der Lara (Conway, Ark./Marshalltown CC) made five saves to pick up the win.
Dominican was led by James Gragson and Sergio Monton who both recorded goals, while Daniel Alvarado chipped in an assist. Goalkeeper Steven Hegner made four saves in a losing effort.
Mercy got off to a quick start as redshirt sophomore Romello Fraser (Brooklyn, N.Y./School for Human Rights) recorded the first shot on goal at the one-minute mark of the first half. The Mavericks found the back of the net in the sixth minute when Lacerda played a ball from the right side across the box to Prando who headed the ball into the net to make it 1-0.
The score remained 1-0 for the remainder of the half, despite the Chargers forcing Van der Lara to make a pair of saves and hitting the crossbar twice. At halftime, Dominican trailed 1-0 despite holding a 9-3 edge in shots and a 2-0 advantage in corner kicks.
The second half saw the Mavericks strike early again as Corral took a misplay by the Chargers defense and scored off a breakaway to give Mercy a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute.
It remained a 2-0 game until the 77th minute when Gragson scored on a shot from just outside the box that found the lower right corner to make it 2-1. Dominican looked to be back in the game, but Lacerda responded with an unassisted goal that found the lower left corner just over a minute later to put the Mavericks up 3-1.
The Chargers continued to fight and responded with a goal in the 86th minute as Monton scored off an assist from Alvarado to make it 3-2. However, time would run out for Dominican as the Mercy backline held its own to seal the victory.
The Mavericks outshot the Chargers 12-6 in the second half to even up shots at 15-15 on the day. Dominican held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks look to make it six in a row as they host District of Columbia on Saturday, September 24th at 3 p.m.
