DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 14, 2017) – Powered by the game-winning goal from senior Haxhi Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y. / Marlboro) in the 87th minute, the Mercy College men's soccer team earned their fourth straight shutout win with a 1-0 victory over ECC foe Molloy College on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (10-3, 5-1 ECC) increase their win streak to seven and have their most wins in a season since 2013, while the Lions (4-9, 2-4 ECC) have dropped two games in a row. The seven-game winning streak is the program's longest since 1998.
Verjoni scored his third goal of the year on one shot on goal. Senior Ericson Penate added an assist and five shots. Junior Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) recorded a game high six shots, while sophomore Maximiliano Rebolledo-Camus (Santiago, Chile / Saint George's College) recorded two shots in the contest. Senior Kwantarian Van der Lara (Stockholm, Sweden/Marshalltown CC) made four saves in goal to pick up his seventh shutout win this season.
Molloy received shots on goal from Dan Massey and Paul Morales, while Raul Bonilla made eight saves in a losing effort.
Molloy began the first half of the game with a mission to score, as they were able to draw a corner kick within the first four minutes of the contest. They continued to keep the pressure as they were able to record the first shot of the game in the ninth minute when Massey fired off a shot, forcing Van der Lara to make the save. The Mavericks then began their offensive pressure, and were able to record ten unanswered shots. Despite outshooting the Lions 10-1 in the first half of the game, the Mavericks were unable to find the back of the net and headed into halftime with a score of 0-0.
The Mavericks continued to hold the offensive pressure in the second half, as senior Facundo Bouciguez (Buenos Aires, Argentina / Florida Memorial University) was able to fire off the first shot of the second half. Despite four shots from the Lions, they were unable to get past Van der Lara in the net. Verjoni was able to put the Mavericks on the board in the 87th minute, when he was able to find the back of the net following a corner taken by Rebolledo-Camus and pass from Penate. The Lions were unable to record a shot for the remainder of the contest and the Mavericks eventually won the contest 1-0.
Mercy held a 21-5 edge in shots and a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks look to make it eight wins in a row when they travel to LIU Post for an ECC matchup on Wednesday, October 18th at 1 p.m.
