BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Oct. 26, 2019) – Powered by goals from sophomore Claudia McKail (Santa Clarita, Calif./Canyon) and senior Natalia Elizarraras (Whittier, Calif./Los Altos), the Mercy College women's soccer team earned a 2-2 double-overtime draw with ECC foe University of Bridgeport on Saturday night at Knights Field.
The Mavericks (9-2-2, 3-1-2 ECC) earn their second straight tie, while the Purple Knights (7-5-2, 5-0-1 ECC) remain unbeaten in ECC play.
McKail netted her second goal of the year and Elizarraras recorded her third goal of the season. Junior Kaitlyn Denning (Peoria, Ariz./Mountain Ridge) added an assist and junior Melissa Torres (La Mirada, Calif./La Mirada) made seven saves.
Bridgeport was led by Nara DaCosta and Jenna Denis who both scored. Helena Dahlstrom made two saves in goal.
The Purple Knights recorded two shots on goal in the first three and a half minutes that were stopped by Torres. However, the Mavericks scored the game's first goal in the 4th minute when Denning sent a pass to left of the box and McKail fired a low shot to the corner to give Mercy a 1-0 lead.
Torres made another stop in the 15th minute, but Bridgeport found the back of the net just 23 seconds later when DaCosta scored to tie the game up at 1-1. Torres made two more saves in the half to help send the teams into halftime tied at 1-1.
Bridgeport scored just under four minutes into the second half when Denis put one into the goal after a corner kick to give the Purple Knights a 2-1 lead. It remained 2-1 until the 78th minute when Elizarraras fired a long blast into the goal after a failed Bridgeport clear to tie the game up at 2-2.
The Purple Knights had one last opportunity with 46 seconds left, but a Maegen Doyle shot hit the crossbar to send the game into overtime.
Neither team recorded a shot in the first overtime period so another overtime was needed.
The second overtime saw Torres make her final two saves including a diving save with less than a minute left with Bridgeport on a three-versus-one situation to preserve the tie.
Bridgeport held a 17-9 edge in shots and a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
Head Coach Danny Leon Jr. and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, October 30th when they play at Le Moyne at 3 p.m.
