NEWARK, Del. (Sept. 14, 2017) – Powered by two-goal afternoons from senior Alyssa Iannuzzi (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) and sophomore Jessica Brandt (Folsom, Calif./Folsom), the Mercy College women's soccer team exploded for six goals in a 6-0 victory over Wilmington University on Thursday afternoon at the Wilmington University Athletics Complex.
The Mavericks (4-1) have won two games in a row and the six goals scored were the most since an 8-0 victory over Nyack on September 19, 2015. The Wildcats (3-2-1) see their two-game winning streak come to an end.
Iannuzzi recorded two shots on goal and Brandt had three shots on goal, while senior Heidi Serna (West Covina, Calif./South Hills) finished with a goal and an assist. Sophomore Ally Boots(Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) added her fifth goal of the season and redshirt sophomore RaeAnn Ioannou (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge), sophomore Natalia Elizarraras (Whittier, Calif./Los Altos) and junior Lauren Calderaro (La Verne, Calif./Bonita) dished out assists. Freshman goalkeeper Melissa Torres (La Mirada, Calif./La Mirada) made the start in net and played the first half with two saves to earn the win, improving to 3-0 on the year. Senior Ashley Price (Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium) played the second half in goal and did not face a shot.
Wilmington was led by Preslie Quaranta who had two shots on goal, while goalkeeper Kierstyn Williams had eight saves in a losing effort.
Mercy looked to continue their winning ways against a Wilmington squad that came off an impressive road win on Tuesday. The Mavericks wasted little time in getting on the board as Ioannou fired a pass from the middle of the field down to the left side to Boots, who shot it low to the far post to put Mercy ahead 1-0 in the 10th minute.
The Mavericks continued to fire away and would add onto their lead in the 27th minute when Brandt scored on a penalty kick after a Wilmington foul, making it 2-0. The score remained 2-0 at halftime with Mercy holding a 7-3 edge in shots.
After a strong first half, the Mavericks dominated the second half and took a 3-0 lead in the 51st minute when Iannuzzi found the back of the net for the first time in the contest. The senior received a left side end line pass from Elizarraras and ripped a shot from the middle from 12 yards out to increase the Mercy lead.
The Mavericks continued to dominate and would tack on another goal in the 61st minute when Brandt contributed her second goal of the year, off a Wilmington turnover, on a shot 22 yards out, which made the score 4-0.
Mercy did not stop there as just over a minute later Iannuzzi scored her third goal of the year off a Serna kick to increase the Mavericks advantage to 5-0. Mercy concluded the scoring in the 69th minute when Serna netted her second goal of the season, off an assist from Calderaro, capping off the impressive road win for the Mavericks.
Mercy finished with a 20-4 edge in shots and a 7-0 edge in corner kicks.
Head Coach Jonathan Feinstein and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, September 19th when they play at Le Moyne at 3 p.m.
