DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 2019) – Powered by goals from senior Ignacio Mangada (Alicante, Spain/Campbellsville University) and junior Nigel Hawthorne (Queens, N.Y./Millersville University), the No. 12 Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 2-1 victory over ECC foe Queens College in a CODA Awareness Game on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (5-0-1, 1-0 ECC) have won four games in a row, while the Knights (2-3-1, 0-1 ECC) fall below .500 on the year.
Mangada netted his third goal of the year on three shots and Hawthorne recorded his first goal of the season. Senior Kevin Rodriguez (Queens, N.Y./ASA College), sophomore Archie Jones (London, England/Northbridge) and redshirt freshman Steven Fernandez (Rego Park, N.Y./Iona College) all added assists. Junior Joel Serrano (Arecibo, P.R./Marshalltown CC) played the full 90 minutes in goal to earn the win.
Queens was led by Emgi Gousse who scored and Victor Guazhambo who had an assist. Marek Strzelczyk made four saves to take the loss.
After no shots were recorded in the first 16 minutes of the contest, the Mavericks recorded the first shot of the game in the 17th minute when Mangada found the back of the net. Fernandez played a cross from left to right and Jones touched it over to Mangada who fired it into the net to put Mercy up 1-0.
The Mavericks forced Strzelczyk to make two more saves in the half and headed into halftime up 1-0 after outshooting Queens, 5-1.
The second half saw Mercy score their second goal in the 54th minute when Rodriguez fed Hawthorne who broke away down the right side before firing above the goalkeeper into the top right corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Queens continued to battle and got on the board in the 74th minute when Gousse scored on a shot into the right corner of the net to get the Knights within 2-1. The visitors could not find the game-tying goal and the Mavericks emerged victorious.
Mercy held a 13-5 edge in shots and 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, September 25th when they host Jefferson at 3 p.m.
