DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 28, 2017) – Led by the game-winning goal in the 11th minute from junior Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College), the Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 1-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (13-4, 7-2 ECC) have secured the No. 2 seed in next week's ECC Tournament and will host No. 3 seed University of the District of Columbia on Tuesday, October 31st at 1 p.m. Mercy also now has their most wins in a season since 1998. The Spartans (5-9-1, 3-6 ECC) see their season come to an end on a four-game losing streak.
Lacerda scored his sixth goal of the year and sophomore Maximiliano Rebolledo-Camus (Santiago, Chile/Saint George's College) added an assist. Senior Kwantarian Van der Lara (Stockholm, Sweden/Marshalltown CC) made three saves to earn the win in goal.
St. Thomas Aquinas received a shot on goal from George Yusuff, Christian Jones and Luis Morales, while goalkeeper Jack Nicholson played the first 87:46 in goal with four saves to take the loss.
After UDC lost to Queens just as the contest was getting underway, all the Mavericks had to do was either tie or win to gain the opportunity to host an ECC Tournament game. Mercy came out with the first two shots of the game before Lacerda gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Lacerda received a pass from Rebolledo-Camus after a corner and fired the ball into the upper right corner to put Mercy ahead early on.
Neither team would have many scoring chances for the remainder of the half with both goalkeepers tallying a save as the teams headed into halftime with Mercy in front 1-0.
The second half saw the Spartans come out with a shot on goal but Van der Lara made the save to keep it 1-0. The Mavericks looked to add onto their lead but they would have a shot hit the crossbar and post, keeping it 1-0.
Mercy would hold on the rest of the way not allowing the Spartans to score in securing the win.
The Mavericks held a 13-6 edge in shots and 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, October 31st when they host No. 3 seed UDC in the ECC Tournament Semifinal matchup at 1 p.m.
