DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 27, 2018) – Powered by goals from juniors Ignacio Mangada (Alicante, Spain/Campbellsville University) and Maximiliano Rebolledo-Camus (Santiago, Chile/Saint George's College), the No. 12 Mercy College men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day and secured the ECC Regular Season Championship with a 2-1 victory over the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
In a ceremony prior to the game, seniors Mahamed Keita (Abidjan, Ivory Coast/Dutchess CC), Alejandro Alvarez (Pereira, Colombia/American International College), Mariglen Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall), Chris Valverde (New York, N.Y./ASA College), Freddy Marcel (Bay Shore, N.Y./SUNY Delhi) and Christopher Birnie (Ossining, N.Y./Westchester CC) were recognized for their contributions as members of the Mercy College men's soccer team.
The Mavericks (11-2-1, 7-2 ECC) earn their first regular season championship with the conference being known as the ECC. Mercy won a share of the ECC Championship when the conference was called the NYCAC in 1992. If LIU Post beats NYIT the Mavericks would be Co-Champions with the Pioneers but since Mercy beat them head-to-head the Mavericks will earn the No. 1 seed in the ECC Tournament. The Mavericks have won three games in a row and have secured the top seed in next week's ECC Tournament. Mercy will host an ECC Semifinal matchup on Wednesday, October 31st at 1 p.m. against an opponent to be announced. The Firebirds (6-10-1, 4-5 ECC) end their season with three straight losses.
Mangada recorded his team-leading eighth goal of the year and Rebollledo-Camus added his seventh goal of the year. Junior Gaston Rozenblum dished out an assist and senior Mahamed Keita played the first half in goal to earn the win. Sophomore Jordan Williams played the second half in goal to help finish off the win.
UDC was led by Malik Thom who scored and Daniel Eisenhauer played the first 72:10 in goal with five saves to take the loss.
Mercy got came out with the first three shots on goal, but a team save and two Eisenhauer saves kept the Mavericks off the board. Mangada put Mercy on the board in the 20th minute when he scored following a rebound of a shot that was initially stopped by Eisenhauer to make it 1-0.
Eisenhauer made two more saves and the Firebirds would even the score up at 1-1 in the 38th minute when Salah Warid crossed the ball from left to right in front of the goal and Thom fired the ball into the net to tie the game up.
Mercy would retake the lead in the 44th minute when Rozenblum fed a nice thru ball to Rebolledo-Camus who fired the ball into the lower right corner to give Mercy a 2-1 lead.
The Mavericks backline would not allow a shot on goal in the second half to help lead the Mavericks to a 2-1 win on Senior Day.
Mercy held a 14-5 edge in shots and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, October 31st when they host an ECC Semifinal game at 1 p.m.
