DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 12, 2017) – Led by two goals from junior Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil / Monroe College), the Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 5-0 win over Holy Family University on Thursday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (9-3) have now won six games in a row and match their win total from all of last season, while the Tigers (3-10) have dropped the last two contests. The six-game winning streak for Mercy is the longest since the 2013 season.
Lacerda had a game-high five shots on goal, while senior Ericson Penate (Reseda, Calif. / La Mission JC) ended the contest with three assists and three shots. Sophomore Santiago Corral (Buenos Aires, Argentina / Instituto Francesco Faa Di Bruno) recorded one goal, dished out an assist, and recorded two shots in the contest. Senior Haxhi Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y. / Marlboro) added one goal and one shot on goal for the Mavericks. Senior Kwantarian Van der Lara (Stockholm, Sweden/Marshalltown CC) made one save in his 45 minutes in net to earn the win. Junior Mahamed Keita (Bronx, N.Y. / Dutchess CC) recorded two saves in his 45 minutes of action.
Holy Family was led by Jovan James who had two shots and one shot on goal, while Mark Pohl played the first 76:45 in net with three saves to take the loss.
The Mavericks entered today's contest on a mission to increase their win streak to six. Within the first ten minutes of the game, Lacerda was able to find the back of the net after a turnover from the Holy Family defense allowed him to shoot in the lower left corner. Lacerda continued to create offensive pressure, as he was able to increase the Mavericks lead to 2-0 just ten minutes later when he received a pass from Penate and shot off the crossbar into the goal. Mercy was not done just yet, as Fraser topped off the first half with a goal off a cross from Corral to allow Fraser to find the back of the net. The Mavericks entered halftime with a 3-0 lead over the Tigers.
James came out fighting in the second half, as he was able to fire off the only two Tigers shots before the Mavericks were able to increase their lead to 4-0 in the 61st minute. Verjoni was able to find the back of the net off another through ball dish from Penate. Just six minutes later Corral was able to record the final goal of the contest off of a third assist from Penate, setting him up for the header goal. Despite the Tigers firing off three shots in the second half, they were unable to get on the board and eventually fell 5-0 to the Mavericks.
Mercy held an 18-7 edge in shots and both teams recorded four corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks return to action when they host Molloy College in an East Coast Conference matchup on Saturday, October 14 at 3 p.m.
