OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Sept. 23, 2017) – Powered by the game-winning goal in the 2nd minute from senior Ericson Penate (Reseda, Calif./LA Mission JC), the Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 1-0 victory at ECC foe NYIT on Saturday afternoon at President's Stadium.
The Mavericks (5-3, 1-1 ECC) have now won two games in a row and beat the Bears (3-5, 0-2 ECC) for the first time since 2013.
Penate had a team-high three shots on goal and now has three goals on the year. Junior Lucca Lacerda (Passos, Brazil/Monroe College) assisted on the goal and graduate student Danny Gavin(Phoenix, Ariz./University of Washington) also recorded a shot on goal. Senior Kwantarian Van der Lara (Stockholm, Sweden/Marshalltown CC) made four saves to post his fourth shutout victory of the season.
NYIT received a team-high two shots on goal from Alberto Alonso Marchan, while goalkeeper Jonathan Rico made three saves to take the loss.
Mercy got on the board just 1:04 into the contest as Penate scored following a pass from Lacerda off a free kick that went off the goalkeeper and into the net. The Mavericks continued to hold a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute when sophomore Maximiliano Rebolledo-Camus (Santiago, Chile/Saint George's College) hit the post for another scoring chance. Penate forced Rico to make two saves in the frame, but the score remained 1-0 in favor of Mercy at halftime.
After the Mavericks held a 6-4 edge in shots in the first half, the Bears came out in the second half on the offensive and maintained a 13-3 advantage in shots in the second half. However, they could not find the equalizer as the Mercy backline and Van der Lara stepped up and prevented the hosts from getting on the board. Van der Lara made three saves in the second half and despite the Bears holding an 8-0 edge in second-half corner kicks the Mavericks held on for the victory.
NYIT held a 17-9 edge in shots and a 13-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, September 30th when they host Queens College at 3 p.m.
