SPARKILL, N.Y. (Sept. 15, 2018) – Junior Ignacio Mangada (Alicante, Spain/Campbellsville University) scored the game-winning goal in the 80th minute of action to give the No. 17 Mercy College men's soccer team a 1-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College in their ECC opener on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (4-0, 1-0 ECC) start 4-0 for the first time since 2013 and win at St. Thomas Aquinas for the first time since 2006, while the Spartans (3-2-1, 0-1 ECC) drop their ECC opener.
Mangada recorded his team-leading fourth goal of the year and juniors Maximiliano Rebolledo-Camus (Santiago, Chile/Saint George's College) and Gaston Rozenblum (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Escuelas Tecnicas ORT) had a team-high two shots on goal. Sophomore Jordan Williams (Newton, N.J./North Carolina Wesleyan College) made three saves to post the shutout and earn the win.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Lachlan Wilkinson who had a team-high two shots on goal. Jack Nicholson made six saves to take the loss.
The two teams traded shots on goal in the 22nd and 25th minutes, but both were stopped by Williams and Nicholson to keep the game tied at 0-0. Williams made a second stop in the 41st minute to maintain a scoreless game heading into halftime.
Wilkinson fired the first shot on goal in the second half that was stopped by Williams in the 50th minute. Rozenblum, senior Mariglen Verjoni (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) and Rebolledo-Camus responded with shots on goal of their own but were unable to find the back of the net.
Nicholson made two more saves in the half before the Mavericks finally got on the board in the 80th minute. Mangada made a long run through the middle and fired a shot from 12 yards out that found the back of the net to put Mercy up 1-0.
The Mavericks defense would keep the Spartans off the board for the remainder of the contest, giving the Mavericks their third shutout win of the season.
Mercy held a 13-7 edge in shots and St. Thomas Aquinas held a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Monday, September 17th when they host Millersville at 3 p.m.
