Lacerda Scores as Men's Soccer Hosts UDC in ECC Matchup
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 24, 2016) – Sophomore Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) scored his second goal of the season as the Mercy College men's soccer team suffered a 3-1 setback to the University of the District of Columbia in an ECC matchup on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (6-1-1, 2-1 ECC) suffer their first loss of the season, while the Firebirds (2-6, 2-0 ECC) remain unbeaten in ECC play.
Lacerda finished with one shot on goal, while sophomore Donovan Cesar (Jamaica, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) contributed a team high two shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Kwantarian Van der Lara (Conway, Ark./Marshalltown CC) made three saves to earn his first loss of the season.
UDC was led by Gabriel Torres, Kelvin Hererra and Malik Thom who all recorded goals on the day. Ever Alvarez played the full 90 minutes in net and made three saves to pick up the win in net.
Cesar came out with the Mavericks first shot of the day in the 2nd minute of action, but Michael Agboola ensued with a shot on goal that was stopped by Van der Lara to keep the game at 0-0 in the 6th minute.
Mercy got on the board first in the 10th minute when Lacerda fired a shot from outside the box past Alvarez to make it 1-0. However, the Firebirds had an answer in the 15th minute when Hererra scored off a double pass from Kevin Claure Guzman and Christopher Moke to tie the score up at 1-1.
The score stayed tied at 1-1 heading into halftime as the Mavericks held a 6-4 edge in shots and 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
The second half saw Thom force Van der Lara to make another save in the 54th minute. Thom would not be denied in the 57th minute as he scored off assists by Gabriel Torres and Valere Songong to give UDC their first lead of the day at 2-1.
The Firebirds added on an insurance goal in the 65th minute as Torres took a feed from Hererra and found the back of the net to put the visitors up 3-1. The Mavericks responded with a pair of scoring chances in the 74th minute, but both header shots were stopped to keep the score at 3-1. UDC held on for the victory and gave Mercy their first loss of the season.
Shots on the day were tied at 11-11, while the Mavericks held a 10-7 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks look to bounce back when they host NYIT in an ECC matchup on Wednesday, September 28th at 3 p.m.
